WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. — Blessing Knighten, 21, of West Palm Beach is facing charges of burglary and grand theftfrom the site of her former employer's dog training business in Loxahatchee two days after she was arrested on five felony counts of animal abuse there.
On Sunday, Alyssa Renee Christina, 23, of West Palm Beach, is accused of making threats on Instagram to kill the owner of the business. She faces felony charges of intimidation and aggravated stalking. She was released on bonds totaling $3,000 and her next appearance is at 10:30 a.m. May 22.
Knighten was taken to the Palm Beach County jail at 4:25 a.m. Saturday on two felony charges of burglary of an unoccupied building unarmed and grand theft of less than $5,000. She made a court appearance later that morning and was released at 1:52 p.m. after posting total bonds of $8,000. Her next court date is 10:30 a.m. May 22.
On Thursday, Knighten was booked into the jail at 9:38 a.m. Thursday and bonded out at 2:59 p.m. Her next court date is 10:30 a.m. May 22.
Her latest arrest report was posted on the county clerk site Monday.
After her dismissal from Fine Line Family K-9 at 14914 77th Place in March, Palm Beach County Sheriff's deputies were called on April 15, to the home at that address for a reported burglary though it didn't appear to be a forced entry.
The witness said he recognized a red-colored SUV nearby allegedly driven by the former employee.
On Thursday, the witness and the business owner, Steven Cabral, reported he had employed the woman.
According to surveillance, they were positive it was Knighten.
"The video does show a black female wearing all black clothing, head draped in a black cloth like material, no shoes, removing property belonging to Steven Cabral," according to the arrest report.
At one point in the video, "Knighten stops near the center of the garage and appeared to start to video record the interior using her cellphone."
The value of the missing items was listed as $4,213.53, including a $2,000 bite suit, scratch pants work $309.99, collars, muzzle, dog vest, bucket of dog treats and a bag of dog food.
After obtaining the video, contact was made with Knighten on Friday. She was taken into custody but denied committing the crimes.
She was in the 1100 block of The 12th Fairway in Wellington, where a detective found several K-9 training items "in plain view."
Knighten had been arrested earlier Friday on the animal abuse case.
Palm Beach County Animal Care and Control had received a complaint from Cabral on March 18 about Knighten and another trainer who had left the state for Michigan. He subsequently supplied three videos involving a Belgian Malinois and a black German Shepherd.
Cabral fired her, but Knighton said she was instructed to treat the dogs that way by her former employer.
She told investigators she had worked for Fine Line Family K-9 for two months.
In one video, Knighten is seen choking a dog for 15 to 20 seconds.
"He showed me a video of Blessing Knighten strangling a German Shepherd on what Cabral called a bite box," according to the arrest report. "The dog's front legs were off the ground. She then walks the dog around and the dog appears to be limping and in distress. She then hangs the dog back on the bite box. It struggles, and you can hear the dog yelp."
On April 5, Knighten accused Cabral of blackmail, and she did the training as instructed.
She told authorities that typical methods included "not feeding the dogs."
In the social media case, the owner said he was concerned for his safety and was staying at a hotel because an Instagram user by the name of Allyssaachristina may follow through on her threats. Also, numerous vehicles were stopping in front of his residence to yell obscenities and take pictures of his residence, he said.
The account holder was tracked to Christina and PBSO detectives spoke to her at Good Samaritan Hospital in West Palm Beach where she worked as a nurse.
"Christina admitted to seeing a story about (redacted) abusing his animals and it upset her," according to the arrest report.
She threatened to kill him and burn his house down, including messages over a 10-hour period while she was at work, according to the arrest report.