[Editor’s note: This story contains depictions of animal cruelty.]
A UF student pleaded no contest to a first-degree misdemeanor of animal cruelty Monday morning in connection to the death of Timmy, a hamster who lived with her owner at Broward Hall.
Benjamin Chase Cohen, a 19-year-old political science freshman, was sentenced to 12 months of probation and 50 hours of community service at the Judge Stephan P. Mickle, Sr. Criminal Courthouse. He will also go through a mental health evaluation and an anger management course.
The court withheld adjudication of guilt, meaning Cohen was found guilty of animal cruelty but was not formally convicted of the crime.
Cohen and his lawyer didn’t respond to calls or texts requesting comment.
According to a UF Police Department report, Timmy was rolling around the Broward West fourth floor common area in her exercise ball in September, supervised by her owner, another UF student. Cohen began kicking Timmy’s ball and was told to stop. Cohen then “purposely stomped on the ball,” crushing Timmy to death.
Cohen told a responding officer he “thought it would be funny to stomp on the ball and break it,” but didn’t know there was a hamster inside of it, according to the police report.
Timmy’s owner didn’t respond for comment.
After Judge Meshon T. Rawls sentenced Cohen, assistant state attorney Cameron Life read a statement from the owner.
“While I didn’t have Timmy for very long,” she wrote, “I loved her very deeply.”
Since Timmy’s death, Timmy’s owner said she has felt an “immense” fear of encountering Cohen and has avoided places he might be, causing her to become isolated from her friends.
Still, she wrote, she wished the best for Cohen.
Contact Pristine Thai at pthai@alligator.org. Follow her on X @pristinethai.
Pristine Thai is a university general assignment reporter and a third-year political science and journalism major. Her free time is spent attending classical music concerts or petting cats.
