No charges in opossum attack

A man arrested in connection with the wounding of a mother opossum will not face animal cruelty charges, authorities said.

Lorenzo Oliver, 54, was arrested last week for allegedly being an accessory to animal cruelty after a witness told police he saw Oliver’s 12-year-old son beat the opossum with a shovel, police said.

“There was insufficient evidence to charge him with any criminal offense,” prosecutor Mark Logan said Thursday.

The boy also was detained by police and then released to his mother, but the Orange County district attorney’s office would not release details on any charges because he is a minor. The family’s neighbor, Sonia Gallardo, said the boy was not being charged.