SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - Authorities arrested a man suspected of grabbing two cats from a homeless woman and tossing them to their deaths in the San Francisco Bay.

The San Francisco Chroniclereported that 33-year-old Eric Leroy Patterson tried to run from Animal Care and Control and San Francisco police officers before his arrest in downtown San Francisco Friday afternoon.

Authorities have been searching for Patterson since witnesses reported him as the person who stole a homeless woman's cat carrier, with two cats inside, and the rest of her belongings on Nov. 25. The witnesses said Patterson then tossed the carrier into the bay.

The cats drowned before rescuers could pull the carrier from the water.

Patterson was booked into a city hospital for a psychiatric evaluation. He faces felony charges of animal cruelty.