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Sept. 4, 2018 By Tara Law
A woman on probation for animal cruelty pushed a probation officer down the stairs of her Jackson Heights home last week.
Elizabeth Grant, 50, went on the attack after the officer caught her hoarding more animals— in violation of her probation, the Queens District Attorney’s office said. Grant also directed a number of racist slurs toward the officer.
Grant faces up to seven years in prison for various charges, including attempted assault of an officer, second degree assault as a hate crime and 16 counts of failure to provide proper food and drink to impounded animals.
Grant was convicted in March of 108 counts of animal cruelty for failing to take care of her 54 pets–cats and dogs–which she housed in her urine and feces-coated home. In April, she was sentenced to three years’ probation and prohibited from owning animals for 10 years.
A probation officer arrived at Grant’s home on Aug. 29, according to the district attorney’s office.
When Grant’s mother opened the home’s front door, the officer immediately noticed a foul smell coming from the home.
Once the officer was inside, Grant came up and confronted her.
“You can’t come in here,” Grant said to her. “You don’t have a warrant, my case is on appeal, You can’t do this to me, I didn’t sign the conditions of probation.”
Grant also started to make derogatory sexual and racial comments about the officer, the district attorney’s office said.
There were cats running around the ground floor of the home, including some that looked underweight, the district attorney’s office said. When the officer started to take pictures of the animals with her cellphone, Grant tried to grab the phone away.
Grant then got up close to the officer to try and prevent her from leaving the kitchen.
“Go ahead, punch me, push me, slap me,” Grant said to the officer.
The officer went up to the second floor and entered a bedroom. Inside, she saw a number of underweight dogs, the district attorney’s office said.
When the officer began to go back down the stairs, Grant allegedly came up from behind her and pushed her. The officer tumbled down the stairs, twisting her back as she attempted to hold on to the railing.
The officer reported a lot of pain after the incident, and she needed to seek treatment at a hospital, the district attorney’s office said.
Soon afterward, the police and the ASPCA executed a search warrant at Grant’s home.
The officers reported that the home had a strong ammonia smell. The space was filled with flies and crammed with belongings, the district attorney’s office said.
The temperature outside was above 90 degrees that day, but there was no air flow or air conditioning in the home.
The officers recovered seven dogs, including three puppies; a cat; two rabbits; two guinea pigs and two betta fish. They also rescued two turtles, which had been found inside of an aquarium in the bathtub, which was filled with dirty water.
Grant is being held on $100,000 bond or $75,000 cash bail, and was ordered to return to court on Sept. 14, 2018.
