Landscaper Jailed After Mowing Down Ducklings

He killed 9 in front of a couple and young son
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted May 16, 2015 9:54 AM CDT
Landscaper Jailed After Mowing Down Ducklings
Jason Falbo is charged with multiple counts of animal cruelty.   (Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office)

A Florida landscaper faces prison time after he mowed down a family of ducklings. Jason Falbo, 24, claims it was unintentional, but a couple and their young son who watched the scene unfold aren't buying it, and, so far, neither are police, reports the Palm Beach Post. It happened in Wellington, as Falbo mowed the back yard of Boyd Jentzsch and Laura Gontchar. The husband and wife had put food out for the ducklings and were watching with their 7-year-old son as the mother duck led them out of a lake to feed. That's when they say Falbo deliberately headed for the ducks on his riding mower, ran them over, and hit them again in reverse. Seven died instantly, and two more made it back to the water and drowned, say police. Only the mother and two ducklings survived.

"We were horrified," Jentzsch tells the Sun Sentinel. He, his wife, and their son, Kai, ran after Falbo as he neared the ducks screaming for him to stop, to no avail. The family says Falbo was laughing on his second pass over the ducks. They booted him from the property and called animal control, and Falbo was charged with nine counts of animal cruelty. His employer tells CBS12 that Falbo is "kind-hearted" and wouldn't have run over the ducks on purpose. He says Falbo didn't see them in the tall grass and backed up after the first pass only because he wanted to avoid hitting more ducks in front of him. He is being held on $27,000 bond. (Elsewhere in Florida, a woman faces animal cruelty charges over goldfish.)

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