Police Horse Hitter Popped In St. Pete
Floridian said he was unaware equine battery not allowed
DECEMBER 5--After getting busted for slapping a police horse, a Florida Man reportedly told officers that he “didn’t know he wasn’t allowed to hit the horses,” according to an arrest 
report.
Two mounted officers were patrolling a St. Petersburg street filled with popular bars around 1:50 AM Saturday when Ali Lalani, 27, allegedly walked up behind one of the horses and struck the animal in the rear end.
Lalani, one cop reported, “walked behind my partner, who was also riding a police horse when I observed him slap the rear end of my partner's police horse with an open hand.”
Both horses were outfitted with red and blue flashing lights and a St. Petersburg Police Department insignia.
Seen above, Lalani then looked at the officers and claimed he was unaware of the legal prohibition against striking equines. He was then arrested for battery on a police horse, a misdemeanor, and booked into the county jail (from which he was later released on $150 bond).
Lalani lives in Odessa, a Tampa suburb, in a residence owned by his parents. He was cited for reckless driving in 2017 after he “struck the rear of a postal truck slowing in traffic with such force it went up and onto a raised center median.”
The police department’s mounted unit has two horses--Brooklyn and Jacob--that are used to “enhance the police presence in the downtown area, especially on the weekends and during special events,” according to cops. (1 page)
