Joseph Brandon

Hoping to coerce a former girlfriend into dropping charges against him for allegedly brutalizing her dog, a man threatened to kill the woman and set a child relative of hers on fire, Butler police said.

Joseph R. Brandon, 31, of Franklin Township was placed in the Butler County Prison following his arraignment Thursday night on a felony charge of intimidation of a witness or victim and a misdemeanor charge of terroristic threats.

District Judge Lewis Stoughton set the bail at $250,000 for Brandon, an eight-time felon.

The investigation that led to the latest charges began after a Butler woman claimed the defendant had beaten her dog on Feb. 23.

She told police that she had left the dog, Molli, a cross-breed golden retriever and poodle, in Brandon's care that day. But when she returned home, she noticed Molli was injured.

The dog was bruised and bleeding under the right eye. A veterinarian later examined Molli and found she had several broken ribs, contusions to the lungs and bruises over her entire body.

Those injuries, the veterinarian determined, were from being beaten, police said.

On March 15, police arrested Brandon on a felony charge of aggravated cruelty to an animal. He was arraigned and released on $5,000 unsecured bail to await his preliminary hearing.

But just days before that hearing, Molli's owner told police that the defendant, who is an ex-boyfriend, showed up April 10 at her Butler home.

She said Brandon “attempted to persuade (her) into lying about what happened to her dog,” according to charging documents.

The woman refused, police said, and she advised her ex not to contact her again. But days later, the alleged threats began.

He is accused of threatening to vandalize her vehicle and house. The woman said he also threatened to poison her dogs and kill a pet rabbit that belonged to her 13-year-old nephew.

She recounted other threats, police said, that included one in which he allegedly threatened to pour gasoline on the nephew and light him on fire.

According to documents, “Brandon also said (the woman) better be long gone or dead when he gets out of jail or he'll find her and kill her.”

Despite the alleged threats, Brandon had his preliminary hearing April 15 at the office of District Judge William Fullerton, who ordered him held for trial in the animal cruelty case.

He is tentatively due back in Fullerton's courtroom May 6 for his preliminary hearing on the latest charges.

He faces another similar hearing May 15 at the office of District Judge Bill O'Donnell in Slippery Rock in connection with an arrest Feb. 24 for driving under the influence of a controlled substance in Franklin Township.

Brandon is already awaiting trial in Butler County court on two other cases for allegedly driving while on drugs in 2018.

Court records revealed that Brandon has an extensive criminal history that includes eight felony convictions — five of them for burglary.