William Ohlson carried a six-week-old kitten into a bank vestibule on Market Street in San Francisco on July 1.
Police say the 33-year-old man brought the kitten inside around 2 a.m. and “violently tortured” it to death. Then he fled the scene, taking the kitten's body with him.
San Francisco Animal Care and Control and SFPD opened an investigation and worked to identify him. He was not yet in custody.
He didn't stay in California. He went to Reno.
There, a local rescue group says he adopted two kittens, Haven and Nola, on July 8. Within days, Haven was found abandoned inside her carrier, dumped in a trash bin near his home. Washoe County Animal Services rescued her alive. She has since been rehomed with a new family.
Nola is still missing. Her fate is unknown.
On July 14, SFPD investigators tracked Ohlson to a hotel on Fell Street. When officers tried to arrest him, he allegedly ran onto the roof. Firefighters had to help police bring him down with a ladder truck.
He was booked into jail. He was free days later.
A California rule set bail he could afford, and he walked.
The rule comes from a court ruling called In re Kowalczyk. It says defendants charged with nonviolent crimes get bail they can actually pay, with only a few narrow exceptions written into the state constitution.
Animal cruelty counted as nonviolent. So Ohlson posted bail and walked out.
On July 17, Washoe County Animal Control contacted Reno police about a separate investigation of its own: evidence that Ohlson had adopted kittens in Nevada and recorded himself killing them, then posted the video online. Reno police helped animal control serve a search warrant at Ohlson's home in the 300 block of Stewart Street that same day.
He wasn't there. Neighbors said they hadn't seen him in days.
On July 20, Ohlson skipped his San Francisco arraignment. A bench warrant went out for his arrest.
On July 23, neighbors told police he'd come back. Officers surrounded the home and went in with help from the department's Mobile Engagement Team and a Washoe County Sheriff's Office K-9 unit. Ohlson was taken into custody without incident. Neighbors thanked officers as he was walked to the patrol car.
He now faces a felony warrant for animal cruelty in Nevada, plus two misdemeanor warrants, police said. San Francisco's District Attorney's Office said it plans to extradite Ohlson back to California once his Nevada case is resolved.
WATCH: Animal cruelty suspect William Ohlson has been arrested thanks to @RenoPolice. The SFPD will work with @SFACC and the @SFDAOffice to ensure Ohlson faces justice here in San Francisco.
🎥 Credit: Reno Police Department pic.twitter.com/j2oJPUpEDW
— San Francisco Police (@SFPD) July 24, 2026
This is far from new behavior for Ohlson. It's well-documented.
In 2020, Ohlson was charged with a felony in Washoe County for torturing, maiming, or killing a kitten inside a vehicle in a Walmart parking lot. He pleaded guilty to a lesser charge: attempted torture or killing, not the completed act. A judge sentenced him to 19 to 48 months. That sentence was suspended so he could enter adult drug court instead.
Court records show a long pattern since 2014: missed court dates, revoked bail, and repeated brushes with the law. He has misdemeanor battery and trespassing convictions from 2022. Just last year, he pleaded guilty to drug paraphernalia possession and petty larceny.
He was put on probation. He violated it repeatedly, court records show.
Washoe County Animal Services confirmed it keeps a “Do Not Adopt” list, started in 2023, and that Ohlson is on it – but at least one Reno rescue says the version of that list it received didn't include his name. So the safeguard that was supposed to stop him from adopting again didn't reach everyone who needed it.
A kitten died in San Francisco. Others were killed on camera, their torture shared online. Nola is still missing in Reno.
And a man with a documented history of torturing kittens was free to adopt more of them anyway.
Reno police and Washoe County Animal Control deserve credit for building this case and for working across state lines with San Francisco to do it, but the bigger question still needs answering.
How many chances does one person get before the system stops him for good?
The bail rule that let Ohlson walk free treated his kitten torture charge as nonviolent. The FBI doesn't see it that way.
Since 2016, the Bureau has tracked animal cruelty alongside homicide, arson, and rape in its national crime database, not lumped in with minor offenses.
The FBI treats animal abuse as a warning sign for future violence. Law enforcement groups pushed for that change for a reason. The National Sheriffs' Association has pointed to the pattern for years: serial killers like Ted Bundy and Jeffrey Dahmer tortured animals before they ever hurt a person.
Calling it “nonviolent” doesn't just misdescribe what Ohlson did to two kittens and counting. It makes it easier for him to walk out on bail and do it again.
The law shouldn't wait for a kitten to become a person before the crime counts as violent.
The opinions expressed by contributors are their own and do not necessarily represent the views of Nevada News & Views. Digital technology may have been used in the research, writing, or production of this article. Please verify information and consult additional sources as needed.
