| For Immediate Release Case # 09SF1202
December 31, 2009 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Public Affairs Counsel Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami |
MAINTENANCE MAN CHARGED WITH KILLING DOG AFTER VANDALIZING HIS APARTMENT COMPLEX
AND RUNNING AROUND NUDE AT THE
TENNIS CLUB WHERE HE WORKED
SANTA ANA – A maintenance man has been charged with killing a dog by slamming its head against a concrete sidewalk numerous times after vandalizing his apartment complex. Bayron Reyes Lopez, 26, San Clemente, is charged with one felony count of animal cruelty and one felony count of vandalism. The defendant faces a maximum sentence of three years and eight months in state prison if convicted. Bail is currently set at $20,000. The arraignment is scheduled for Jan. 4, 2010, at 10:00 a.m., in Department CJ-1, Central Jail, Santa Ana.
On Dec. 30, 2009, a woman was walking her dog, Kokanee, a 5-year-old miniature schnauzer. Lopez is accused of walking towards the woman in the street, raising his arms towards her in a threatening manner and following her. The woman was running away from Lopez when Kokanee’s leash got tangled around a pole. Lopez is accused of picking up Kokanee, grabbing him around the throat, choking the dog with both hands, and slamming it on the concrete sidewalk numerous times. Kokanee died at the scene.
Lopez was later found nude lying on his stomach in a pool of coffee at the Rancho San Clemente Tennis Club where he worked as a maintenance man. Earlier in the day, Lopez is accused of smashing a window in his apartment complex and fleeing the scene.
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