Jena Malone Performs Citizen’s Arrest to Rescue a Dog

Jena Malone might be best known as an actress in franchises such as The Hunger Games, Sucker Punch, and Pride & Prejudice, but she recently made headlines for a completely different reason. On Wednesday, Malone took to Twitter to reveal that she was among the group of people who helped stop a dog from being abused in Hollywood, California. The altercation, which took place on Monday, began when a man was repeatedly kicking and choking a small white dog on the street. Video of the ordeal — and of Malone being among those interviewed by the local news about it — has since gone viral on social media.

This was really scary. I saw a man kicking repeatedly a small dog on the sunset, yanking him up in the air and absolutely choking the dog. I yelled at him to stop from my car but he wouldn’t. I got out of my car to try and get the dog but he started running. ( thread) https://t.co/3ftY18M3Ap

— Jena Malone (@MaloneJena) April 6, 2022

“This was really scary,” Malone’s tweets read in part. “I saw a man kicking repeatedly a small dog on the sunset, yanking him up in the air and absolutely choking the dog. I yelled at him to stop from my car but he wouldn’t. I got out of my car to try and get the dog but he started running… So I started chasing him. I saw other people watching on the street upset, as they must have seen the same abhorrent behavior I witnessed , so I tried to signal a man in an orange vest to run with me to chase him… Cause at that point I really didn’t think I was going to be able to get the dog back by myself. After another block of chasing him down I looked back and there were 5 other men behind me pursuing him. Which felt like a miracle.”

“So at this point I held back and let them take the lead as I have no business trying to restrain a full grown man.I went back to get my car [(it was still running)] and drove to see if they caught him,” the thread continues. “6 blocks down from where the chase began a big group had gathered and it look like the man no longer had the dog. So I pulled over to make sure that dog was going to be cared for. I didn’t see the brawl but I was told that the man did not give up the dog without a fight… And this is the tail end of a heated fight that ensued. The cops came and took the guy. I waited with dog til another cop came to take them to the hospital. The dog was covered in filth and looked like it had been not taken care of for months.”

Malone also specified that she saw the assailant get arrested, and that he “seemed coherent after this filmed altercation.” She also revealed that the dog, whose name is Champion, has been returned back to his owner, after having been missing for a week. According to reporting from People, the suspect was arrested on Monday, and had charged filed against him by the district attorney on Tuesday.