Former Los Angeles assistant fire chief gets 90 days in jail for fatal puppy beating

Ex-LA fire official gets jail for puppy beating

RIVERSIDE, Calif. — A retired Los Angeles County assistant fire chief was sentenced Friday to 90 days in jail for using a rock to beat a puppy so severely it was euthanized.

Glynn Johnson apologized to the dog’s owners, who urged the judge to give him the maximum sentence of more than four years in prison.

Besides jail time, Johnson must perform 400 hours of community service working with dogs and repay the owners’ vet bills.

The 55-year-old Hillcrest man was convicted in January of animal cruelty using a deadly weapon for the 2008 attack in which he repeatedly bashed a 6-month-old German-shepherd mix in the head.

Johnson claimed he was freeing himself after the neighbor’s dog, Karley, clamped its mouth on his hand and nearly severed his thumb tip as he walked her home.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE. Check back soon for further information. AP’s earlier story is below.

RIVERSIDE, Calif. (AP) — A retired Los Angeles County assistant fire chief faces up to four years in prison for using a rock to severely beat a puppy that was later euthanized.

Fifty-five-year-old Glynn Johnson is scheduled to be sentenced Friday in a Riverside County courtroom. The Woodcrest resident was convicted in January of felony animal cruelty using a deadly weapon.

Prosecutors say Johnson was feuding with his next-door neighbors in 2008 when he used a 12-pound rock to bash their 6-month-old German shepherd-mix.

The dog, Karley, had to be put to sleep.

Johnson claimed the dog had gotten loose and he was walking it home when it clamped onto his hand, broke a bone and nearly tore off a thumb tip.

But a witness said Johnson’s attack on the puppy was unprovoked.