Gabriel Mojica
A Pleasantville man faces five years in prison after pleading guilty to animal cruelty and assaulting officers after he was jailed.
Gabriel Mojica, 36, was first charged in September 2022, when police received a call about abuse of a puppy, records show.
Mojica twice dangled the 10-week-old puppy — Scooby — by her leash two to three feet above the ground, according to the affidavit of probable cause. The second time was followed by Mojica punching the puppy to move.
Then between Aug. 2 and Dec. 10 of 2023, he twice violated a restraining order.
The first time, he broke the woman's door down and demanded she drop the restraining order, court records show. The second time, he left the victim bloodied and bruised.
The victim told police she was sitting in the back seat of Mojica's vehicle, when he turned to her and asked for money to buy crack cocaine, the affidavit claimed.
Mojica then got into the back seat, where he punched her in the face and bit her on the hand, according to the charges.
The last attack led to Mojica being ordered held in jail following a detention hearing Dec. 21, 2023.
After Judge Patricia Wild ordered him detained at that hearing, Mojica tried to speak from the jail booth where he was appearing virtually, but was muted.
Instead, the judge allowed him to talk with his attorney privately. When the conversation was over, Mojica was no longer in the booth at the jail and the camera used in the room was broken.
Gabriel Mojica during his detention hearing in 2023, before he broke the camera.
"We'll have to dial in from somewhere else, he broke the TV," a corrections officer told the court.
Mojica's issues continued after he was jailed. In February 2024, he was charged with aggravated assault on two Atlantic County Sheriff's Officers who were performing their duties.
Details of that incident were not immediately available. Sheriff's officers deal with the courts not the jail, so it was likely during a court appearance.
Mojica has a criminal history that spans more than 15 years.
He was released from jail after he pleaded guilty last week.
He commented on a BreakingAC Facebook post about the story of him breaking the camera with a laughing bitmoji.
Gabriel Mojica — who was freed pending sentencing — reacted Sunday to a 2023 story about him on Facebook.The plea agreement covers all his pending cases. The domestic case was handled in municipal court, records show.
Mojica faces a five-year term when he is sentenced April 10.
There is no term of parole ineligibility. He already has about two years and two months credit for time served in the county jail.
