BARNHART, Mo. (AP) – Court documents indicate a 39-year-old man who authorities say wrapped a small dog with tape and threw him in a ditch believed the animal was spying on him for police.

Paul Garcia, of Barnhart, is charged with felony animal abuse and armed criminal action.

A sheriff’s deputy found the dog Feb. 9 in a rural Jefferson County ditch. The dog, named Flick, recovered and was reunited with its owner Saturday. The owner said Flick had run away.

Garcia was arrested after investigators took fingerprints off the electrical tape.

The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports Garcia told police when he found the dog under his truck, he thought it might have a camera attached to him to help law enforcement track Garcia’s movements.