Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

A Genesee County jail inmate is charged with animal abuse after punching a 13-month-old comfort dog named Josie, which was greeting inmates and staff last week.

Prosecutor David Leyton says he filed the charges personally after watching a video of 27-year-old Romeo Maxwell attack the small dog.

“I’m a dog lover. I’m an animal lover. The sheriff is a dog lover and an animal lover. It broke my heart when I watched this video,” Leyton told reporters Tuesday.

Sheriff Chris Swanson released video of the attack on Josie, plus two previous incidents where Maxwell attacked a pair of jail guards.

“This individual, Mr. Maxwell, was not scared of the dog. He told us that. But he pulled back and struck Josie hard enough that created a concussion. It scraped the inside of her pupil. She was sent to Oakland County, to the vet emergency. She had to stay there a day-and-a-half. We had to get an MRI. We thought there may have been a brain bleed. And the cost is in the thousands,” said Swanson.

The dog has since recovered and returned to her role in the jail.

Prosecutor Leyton said he plans to prosecute Maxwell to the full extent of the law.

“This individual is an habitual offender third, so the maximum penalty increases from four years to eight years, which I think is still too low,” he said.

“If you did that, what he did to Josie, if you do that to a human being, it could be as much as an assault with intent to murder. It could be an assault with intent to do great bodily harm.”

Leyton urged state lawmakers to adopt stiffer penalties for animal abuse.

Watch the press conference and video at the link below.