| For Immediate Release Case # 12HM10307
September 24, 2012 |
Susan Kang Schroeder Chief of Staff Office: 714-347-8408 Cell: 714-292-2718 Farrah Emami
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MOTHER AND SON TO BE ARRAIGNED FOR ABUSING AND ABANDONING 30 DOGS IN LAGUNA HILLS PARK
NEWPORT BEACH – A mother and son will be arraigned tomorrow for abusing and abandoning 30 dogs in a Laguna Hills park. Flordeliza Aguillo Escano, 59, Rancho Santa Margarita, is charged with one misdemeanor count each of animal abandonment, animal mistreatment, and animal neglect. If convicted, Escano faces a maximum sentence of 18 months in jail and $3,000 in fines. James Francis Alambra, 26, Rancho Santa Margarita, is charged with one misdemeanor count each of animal abandonment and animal mistreatment. If convicted, Alambra faces one year in jail and $2,000 in fines. Both defendants will be arraigned tomorrow, Tuesday, Sept. 25, 2012, at 8:30 a.m. in Department H-8, Harbor Justice Center, Newport Beach.
On the afternoon of May 20, 2012, Escano and her son, Alambra, are accused of driving a truck into the parking lot of San Remo Park in Laguna Hills. They are accused of unloading two crates from the parked truck, one containing 14 dogs and another containing 16 dogs. The defendants are accused of cramming the crates so tightly that the dogs were stacked atop one another, without food or water.
The defendants are accused of placing the crates next to trees near the road and abandoning them. The defendants truck wouldn’t start, so they are accused of leaving the scene after being picked up by a woman in another vehicle, who was unaware of the animal abandonment, leaving their truck behind.
Park visitors found the abandoned crates and contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, who investigated this case. The recovered dogs showed signs of neglect which included matted fur and ingrown toenails.
Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Malone of the Consumer and Environmental Protection Unit is prosecuting this case.
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