NORTH SIOUX CITY, SD. (THECOUNT) — Officer Derek McIntosh, a North Sioux City police officer, is facing criminal charges after he allegedly collected neighborhood cats and transported them to a local cemetery where he shot them dead. He was suppose to take the felines to the humane society.

The police department began investigating McIntosh, 34, on May 9 after other police officers reported that he had picked up stray cats and shot them in the cemetery. But not all the cats were strays.

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McIntosh was connected to several cat deaths after residents noticed that their pets suddenly went missing earlier this month.

According to court documents, on May 8th, North Sioux City Police Chief Richard Headid said Officer McIntosh began investigating reports of a stolen animal trap from a home in North Sioux City and during that investigation, he was asked by a resident, Johnny Clarey, about his missing black and white cat. McIntosh reportedly told Clarey that stray cats were sometimes moved to the McCook cemetery in North Sioux City, source.

McIntosh has been charged with injuring or killing an animal belonging to another, a class 1 misdemeanor, according to a criminal complaint filed in Union County.

Police found the bodies of two dead cats in the city cemetery, along with rubber medical gloves matching those used by the police department, according to an affidavit filed in the case.

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Geo quick facts: North Sioux City is a city in Union County, South Dakota, United States. The population was 2,530 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Sioux City, IA-NE-SD Metropolitan Statistical Area – Wikipedia.