Young Song Guilty of Beating Neighbor's Puppy to Death With Hammer
We're sure you can come up with many names for 42-year-old Young Song. Here are a few suggestions: Piece of sh--. Scumbag. Dirt.
And here's one more that he'll have to live with: Felony convict.
In a surprise move in court today Song pleaded guilty to charges that he beat his neighbor's German shepherd puppy to death with a hammer:
The plea came as a surprise because it happened right in the middle of his trial, with no negotiations with prosecutors for a deal.
In fact, deputy District Attorney Alison Matsumoto objected to the move, according to the D.A.'s office. It happened after "a videotape of the brutal beating was shown to jurors," according to a statement from prosecutors.
He went onto his neighbor's property on April 20 of last year, shot the dog with a pellet gun, left, returned with a hammer, beat the 16-month-old dog to death, and "disposed of the body," says the D.A.'s statement:
The dog was never found.
Why? It's not clear but the defense had argued that the muzzled puppy had gotten into Song's yard at some point, a D.A.'s official told the Weekly.
Song pleaded guilty to "one felony count of cruelty to an animal and one misdemeanor count of petty theft of a dog with a special allegation of personal use of a deadly weapon, a hammer," according to the statement.
He was sentenced to a year in jail and three years' probation. The judge ordered him not to have a pet for 10 years. And Song has to pay $75 restitution to the dog's owner.
He has to report to court Nov. 2 to begin his sentence.
[@dennisjromero / djromero@laweekly.com / @LAWeeklyNews]
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