Two UC Berkeley law students arrested on suspicion of decapitating an exotic bird at a Las Vegas hotel Friday are no longer in custody after posting bail.
Twenty-four-year-olds Eric Cuellar and Justin Teixeira were booked into the Clark County Detention Center after they were captured on video surveillance chasing a guinea fowl into some trees in the hotel’s wildlife habitat. A witness spotted the two men allegedly emerging from the trees carrying the dead bird and its severed head, according to a Friday statement by the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.
The two men face felony charges on suspicion of conspiracy and willful malicious torture/killing of wildlife, said Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department spokesperson Laura Meltzer. According to WhosArrested.com, a free national arrest database, the bonds for the two counts totaled $7,000 for each suspect.
Gary Thompson, spokesperson for Caesars Entertainment, the company that owns the hotel, said the 14-year-old Helmeted Guinea Fowl was rescued as a baby and was the only guinea fowl the hotel had in its wildlife habitat.
“We’ve never had an incident like this before,” Thompson said. The 14-acre wildlife habitat has about 500 animals total, including turtles, ducks, catfish and flamingos, among other animals.
The two suspects told police they were students at the UC Berkeley School of Law, and UC Berkeley student identification cards were found in their possession, according to the statement.
UC Berkeley School of Law Dean Christopher Edley said in a statement that he was “extremely troubled” by the news accounts of the students’ actions off campus but said it was up to the Nevada legal system to examine the facts and rule in this case.
“It’s premature to speculate about any possible consequences,” Edley said in the statement. “The justice system must run its course.”
Some students have commented on the incident on Nuts & Boalts, a blog that describes itself as “stories from the fruits and nuts of the UC Berkeley School of Law.”
One student — who claimed to know both Cuellar and Teixeira — said on the blog that what the two men did was a “disgusting, stupid and inexplicable” act but that the student was “not going to abandon them no matter how shocked I am by what they did.”
Eric Cuellar
Chloe Hunt covers crime. Contact her at [email protected].
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BATH SALTS!!
Let’s hope they get convicted of the felony charge in Nevada. That alone should preclude them from ever sitting for the State Bar Exam because they could never pass the background check.
Two more affirmative action slackers sullying Berkeley’s reputation….
They’d probably have to do community service so have them clean up the cages at some zoo, specifically, with the lions or tigers when they’re hungry. Kick them out of Boalt as well.
Please follow through and see that these two immoral unthinking idiots are expelled. Join me.
I really don’t see what’s wrong with killing a stupid bird , Fuck all of you bird loving hippies. These two guys got into Boalt , something which 99% of you hippies can’t , so fuck off
The tinest microscopic organism is of more value to this earth than your DUMB ASS, you FUCK OFF you piece of crap.
Hey everybody! I’m a loony! I’m God! I’m Jesus! I’m Satan!
If you don’t see what’s wrong with allegedly killing and decapitating a bird for thrills, then you are as depraved as these two azz clowns.
By the same logic, since Adolf Hitler was elected Chancellor of Germany (something I could never accomplish), I have no right to criticize him for war-mongering and genocide.
So killing a stupid bird isn’t wrong. Tell me, is it wrong to kill a stupid Legal Studies major?
Get those dumb asses out of Bolt, what a joke. How many other immoral jerks are in this countrys top schools.
Bolt ?
Bird law in this country – it’s not governed by reason.
What does that mean, those two assholes should be JAIL BIRDS. Lets start treating those creatures with no voice with the dignity they deserve. Those two will be reincarnated as birds of prey. FUCK THEM.
more like reincarnated as chickens that will end up on my plate haha
I would not want to eat that chicken if I were you.
We have pet chickens that hop through the dog door and know their names, they are wonderful, dignified creatures, delightful and fun, and give us eggs as well as being a joy to observe and have as pets. Eating meat is morally wrong and inhumane. If you get an opportunaty to watch free happy chickens, you will not want to eat them. You will know true joy when you refrain from all cruelty to animals.
We used to have chickens back when I lived in the South. When we could not keep them anymore, we ate them. They tasted good.
lmao!!! Love the “it’s always sunny in philly” reference
Contact Dean Edley and keep the pressure on to do something about this.
Good God, if Teixeira’s eyes were any closer together he’d be a fucking Cyclops.
Drunk much?
Exactly what I thought…at least, this would be a partial explanation for their disgusting behavior. If they were not drunk/high, then they should definitely be expelled from Boalt.
Or tripping balls after reading too much Hunter S. Thompson
If these eejits have no sense of right or wrong, they don’t need to be in law school. Last thing we need are two more sociopaths being professionally trained on how to game the system.
What a bunch of retards , they run after a poor bird and then decapitate it , with their bare hands ?? , this is THE MOST RETARDED STORY i have ever heard about. What the f*** is wrong with these two , i’d expect higher standards of behavior from UC Berkeley Law Students. They should be expelled from Boalt for this.
Hi–using the R word is offensive regardless of the context. Please keep in mind who you’re hurting when using this word. http://www.r-word.org/
Yeah, you shouldn’t offend retards by associating them with these 2 losers…
those f***ers should be expelled
That was such a terribly heartless act. Even a young child knows right from wrong when it comes to inflicting pain. They are unfit to be lawyers and should be delt an appropriate punishment. Every single creature on this planet is awesom. Every day I observe bugs, some as small as the head of a pin, and marvel at how fortunate we are to share the planet with all other creatures. Take a moment to think about the life of each creature you observe, how all other creatures are just going about the business of survival. Only man engages in malicious conduct such as this, it is truely an abberation in the natural world. This type of conduct is pure evil and must be delt with harshly. I urge those of you that care to follow this story and help see that this defenseless creature gets some measure of justice.
Hahaha, wow. They’re NEVER gonna get employed, thanks to this article. Well done.
I think the SF Chron story easily beat the DC story to press, so thanks to them.
Whatever works.