Merrick man pleads not guilty in R.I. rabbit killing

A 20 year-old Merrick man accused of killing a rabbit with a hockey stick in Rhode Island pleaded not guilty Thursday.

Nicholas Coyle, was arrested Nov. 16, 2011, by Newport, R.I., police and charged with one count of malicious killing of an animal, authorities said.

Coyle, now a student at Nassau Community College, was arraigned Thursday on the felony charge, his $10,000 bail was continued and he was released on personal recognizance. His next court appearance is May 21 in Newport Superior Court.

The maximum penalty for the charge is up to two years in prison, a fine of up to $1,000 and community service.

Police charged Coyle, at the time a student and lacrosse player at Salve Regina University in Newport, with killing a cottontail rabbit with a hockey stick and using its corpse as a puck, The Providence Journal newspaper reported.

At the time Salve Regina University spokesman Matt Boxler praised students who offered information helping police and the Rhode Island SPCA make the arrest.

Coyle's Rhode Island attorney Susan T. Perkins said Thursday Coyle is now a student at Nassau Community College. She declined further comment.

NCC confirmed Coyle is a student there.