Jan 12, 2009 2:34 pm US/Pacific
Kansas Man Allegedly Kills Seagull Over Ice Cream
LAGUNA BEACH, Calif. (CBS) ―
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Dragan Djuric, 50, of Kansas City faces animal cruelty charges for allegedly killing a rare seagull with a stick over an ice cream.
Erik Oginski/CBS
A Kansas man has ruffled some feathers in Orange County after allegedly beating a rare seagull to death over an ice cream on New Year's Eve in Laguna Beach.
Dragan Djuric, 50, and his wife were visiting Laguna Beach from Kansas City .
The couple was eating ice cream on the boardwalk when they say two seagulls attacked them, knocking the ice cream to the ground. They allege the rare Heermann's Gulls then started pecking away at them.
"They don't attack us, they're birds. That's crazy," a beachgoer told CBS 2 News.
Djuric told police he had no choice but to protect himself. He allegedly beat one gull to death with a stick and injured a second one, which flew off and has not been found.
Witnesses described the attack not as a gentle shooing, but rather as a violent attack on the birds.
Djuric and his wife did not sustain any bite marks or any evidence that a bird had attacked them, according to detectives.
One resident believes Djuric was angry that the birds were eating his wife's ice cream.
"He was very upset about spending money for ice cream that he didn't get to consume," said Sgt. Jason Kravetz of the Laguna Beach Police Department.
According the Audubon Society, Heermann's Gulls are known for being very aggressive and it is not unusual for them to go after people or objects.
Djuric could not be reached by phone, but he told a Kansas radio station that he has nothing to say. He now faces animal cruelty charges.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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