Crestview man charged with shocking girls with dog collar
A Crestview man accused of shocking two young girls with an electric dog collar faces two counts of felony abuse of a child.
The Okaloosa County Sheriff's Office arrested Michael Lee Mitchell, 24, of the 2400 block of South Lakeview Drive following an investigation into reports he punished an 8-year-old girl by making her do extreme physical activity, called “suicides,” until she vomited, according to a sheriff's report.
WEAR TV3 reported that Mitchell is an active duty soldier in the 7th Special Forces Group.
In an interview the child told investigators Mitchell also would put a dog shock collar on one of her arms after first threatening to put it around her neck. If she stopped running, Mitchell would shock her until she began running again.
Investigators from the Sheriff’s Office and Department of Children and Families also learned that on at least one occasion Mitchell forced the girl to run alongside his vehicle for at least three miles, the report states.
Investigators reported that Mitchell told them he also had placed the shock collar around a 4-year-old girl’s waist and shocked her for bad behavior as well, according to the report.
Mitchell was said to have admitted to investigators the punishment was “extreme and over the edge.”
Mitchell is in custody in the Okaloosa County Jail with no bond amount listed.
