REPTILE RIPPER

Man Who Allegedly Attacked Preschool’s Tortoise an ‘Extreme Danger to Public,’ Judge Says

George Robles is accused of stabbing a preschool’s pet with the pieces of a wooden garden gate.

A man who allegedly attacked a preschool’s pet tortoise in January was arraigned Wednesday in San Jose, where a judge called him an “extreme danger to the public.” George Robles faces six felony charges of animal abuse, commercial burglary, and vandalism for allegedly beating and stabbing the reptile, Michelangelo, with the wooden pieces of a broken garden gate in January. The tortoise is alive and recovering at a veterinarian’s office. Robles returned to the Play ‘N’ Learn Preschool in San Jose after he was arrested, and the judge ordered him to stay away from its premises should he be released on bond. Prosecutors asked that Robles be remanded without bail, a request that was declined. His bail is set at $165,000, and he is scheduled to receive a mental health evaluation.