'Survivor' Champ Arrested for Allegedly Shooting Puppy With Arrow

ATLANTA – A winner of the popular reality show "Survivor" was arrested Wednesday after allegedly shooting a puppy with an arrow.

Brian Heidik, 38, is charged with battery and cruelty to animals. After a pretrial hearing Wednesday morning in Douglas County Magistrate Court, he was released on bond.

During the bond hearing, Heidik told a judge he thought the dog was a coyote that has been harassing his pets, WSB-TV reported on its Web site.

Douglas County Chief Deputy Stan Copeland said it was a puppy.

"At about 3 a.m., his wife called to report that he was outside and that he had shot a puppy that was on his property with an arrow and planned to shoot another one," Copeland said.

When sheriff's deputies arrived, Heidik fled in his car but was quickly caught and taken back to the home where the incident occurred.

Heidik's wife, Charmaine, and 5-year-old son were present at the home at the time of the incident, Copeland said.

Copeland said there was evidence in the home to support a charge of battery for family violence. Because the case is pending, he could not elaborate on the nature of the evidence.

Both the wounded puppy and the second puppy were turned over to animal control officials to determine who they belonged to.

Heidik did not immediately respond to a a message from The Associated Press left on an answering machine at one of two phones listed in his name in Douglasville. There was no answer Wednesday afternoon at the second number. Douglasville is 21 miles west of Atlanta.

Heidik won the $1 million prize as the sole survivor of "Survivor: Thailand," the fifth edition of the CBS adventure game show broadcast from September to December 2002.

He is a former North Carolina State football player, used-car salesman and part-time actor. Heidik's TV acting credits include appearances on "Baywatch Nights," "Doogie Howser, M.D." and the soap opera "Days of Our Lives."

His film credits under the name David Roth include "Chick Street Fighter," and "Virgins of Sherwood Forest," according to IMDB.com, the Internet Movie Database.