Two women who allegedly stole a poodle mix from a man at his Echo Park apartment while posing as animal cruelty officers were ordered Friday to stand trial on burglary and other charges.
Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Karla Kerlin denied the defense’s motion to dismiss or reduce the charges against Jenny Smiley, 51, and Shannah Tenner, 53.
“I don’t believe these two individuals were entitled to take the dog,” the judge said.
Smiley and Tenner are charged with one felony count each of first-degree burglary and extortion and one misdemeanor count each of petty theft and unlawful use of a badge.
The two are accused of going to Cesar Aguilar’s apartment on April 14 and telling them they were there to confiscate his dog, Fanny.
Los Angeles police said in April that two women representing themselves as Los Angeles Police Department Animal Cruelty Task Force officers and wearing what appeared to be green uniforms told him there had been multiple complaints about a dog at the residence being neglected.
Aguilar told the judge that the women “presented themselves as police.”
The man was given a flier to the man that contained accurate contact information for the Los Angeles Police Department’s Animal Cruelty Task Force, and said they were there to confiscate the dog, which had not been abused or neglected, according to police.
After the women left with the dog, the man called the Los Angeles Police Department’s Animal Cruelty Task Force and learned that the unit was not involved in his pet being taken, police said. The dog was later recovered.
During the hearing, one of Aguilar’s neighbors said that the dog was frequently locked inside a kennel and that he sometimes had to put water in the dog’s dish.
“She’s probably spent most of her life in that kennel,” Arthur Bylsma said of the dog.
Smiley and Tenner were arrested last month by the Los Angeles Police Department’s Rampart Division and are free on bail.
They are due back in a downtown Los Angeles courtroom for arraignment June 26.
— City News Service