A Hawthorne man who hurled a metal rack at his girlfriend, injuring her and killing her Yorkshire terrier, pleaded no contest Tuesday to felony charges.
Brian Scott Burlingame, 56, is facing a maximum of five years and eight months in prison, with sentencing set for Dec. 15 in a Torrance courtroom.
Burlingame was charged with animal cruelty and injuring a cohabitant for throwing the metal rack at his girlfriend as she held her 9-year-old dog, Bodie, on June 14, according to Deputy District Attorney Frank Dunnick.
The two felony charges included an allegation — which Burlingame admitted — of personal use of a deadly weapon — in this case the metal rack.
— Wire reports