Massachusetts State Police and Peabody Police on Friday arrested a Peabody man wanted for severely beating a puppy on a Peabody Street. Troopers from the State Police fugitive unit and a Peabody detective also recovered a loaded handgun in the car the suspect was driving.

Troopers from the State Police Violent Fugitive Apprehension Section (VFAS) recently developed information suggesting that JOHN LEGER, 32, was staying at a residence on Woodbridge Road in Peabody. Early Friday morning, the troopers and Peabody detective set up surveillance on that residence. They eventually observed LEGER leave the house and begin driving away. Police stopped LEGER’s car and quickly apprehended him. In his glove box, they found a loaded .45 caliber Smith & Wesson handgun. Troopers took LEGER to the Danvers Barracks to be booked.

The Essex County District Attorney’s Office had indicted LEGER in Essex Superior Court on Feb. 22 for animal cruelty and witness intimidation. The indictments stem from LEGER’s severe physical abuse of a puppy, and threats he made to bystanders who tried to intervene to stop LEGER. Following that incident, the Animal Rescue League of Boston took custody of the dog, whose name was Bryson.

Following his arrest, LEGER was arraigned Friday in Peabody District Court. In addition to the warrants, he was additionally charged with several new offenses committed at the time of his arrest: carrying a firearm without a license; carrying a loaded firearm without a license; unlawful possession of ammunition; committing a firearm violation while having committed three prior violent or drug crimes; and operating a motor vehicle after his license was revoked for being a habitual traffic offender. At LEGER’s arraignment, Essex prosecutors successfully sought to have him held without bail pending an upcoming dangerousness hearing.