3 Teens Arrested For Allegedly Mutilating A Raccoon

BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- Police in Boulder believe three teenagers beat a raccoon to death with a machete.

Nicholas Foti, Lucas Holton and August Noble, all 19, have been charged with felony cruelty to animals.

Witnesses told police they saw the three men, and possibly two other suspects, beating and then killing the raccoon.

Foti reportedly told police he said he did it because the animal was getting into their trash. He said that he hit the animal harder than he meant to and tried to "put down" the raccoon by continuing to hit it when he realized he had seriously injured the animal.

Holton and Noble also admitted their involvement to police.

A necropsy was performed by a Colorado State University veterinarian, who determined that the raccoon had died of blunt-force trauma to the head.