A California driver allegedly lured a puppy with food, then ran it over and drove off: ‘Beyond evil and disgusting’

Santa Ana police have arrested an Anaheim woman, 75, in connection with the death of a puppy that surveillance video allegedly shows being run over by a minivan, according to CBS News Los Angeles. The arrest came Thursday morning, a day after the department released the footage and asked the public to help identify the driver.

Prosecutors said she faces a felony charge of animal cruelty, a second felony charge tied to her role as the dog’s caretaker, and a felony enhancement for using a vehicle as a weapon to kill it. The outlet reports that a woman at 900 West Park Lane in September described a parked minivan nearby whose driver seemed to hit a dog on purpose.

Police and animal-services personnel who arrived came upon a pit bull mix with black and white coloring, dead at the location. Police described the dog as about nine months old, while the Orange County District Attorney’s Office calls it a nine-week-old puppy. Officer Natalie Garcia described the scene plainly: “It appeared to be very much run over.”

How police traced the driver and what the law says

According to the outlet’s account of the surveillance video, a Honda Odyssey minivan pulls in, and the driver removes the puppy from the van and sets it beneath the car. After laying food near the driver’s side, she rolls forward slowly and drives over the animal. Garcia said, “The driver stays with the puppy underneath the vehicle for about 15 seconds before she proceeds to just drive off.”

The plate could not be read in the footage, Garcia said, and officers spent about three weeks working the neighborhood for information on the van. On Wednesday, police released the video and appealed to the public for help naming the woman behind the wheel. In a release from the department, police thanked those who shared the case and said, “Investigative leads, primarily using ALPR (automated license plate reader) technology, helped detectives identify the vehicle, locate the suspect, and bring accountability for Blackey.”

Police said the van was found inside her garage and that she acknowledged owning the dog, named Blackey, and abandoning it. The district attorney’s office said she was released on $20,000 bail. Its release does not say which code sections correspond to each count.

Under California Penal Code § 597, a person who “maliciously and intentionally maims, mutilates, tortures, or wounds a living animal, or maliciously and intentionally kills an animal” is guilty of a crime. A felony conviction carries imprisonment under Section 1170(h) of the Penal Code, a fine of up to $20,000, or both, while a misdemeanor carries up to one year in county jail, the same fine, or both.

The release lists Deputy District Attorney Danica Drotman of the Animal Cruelty Unit as the prosecutor, and the arraignment is set for Nov. 2 at the Central Justice Center in Santa Ana.