Santa Ana Police arrested a woman Thursday who appeared to deliberately run over a 9-month-old puppy in a disturbing surveillance camera video.
Hahn Nguyen, 75, was booked into Santa Ana jail on suspicion of animal cruelty and animal abandonment. She admitted to owning the 9-month-old pit bull, “Blackey,” and that she abandoned him, police said.
She told detectives she left the puppy at a park because it had been annoying her boyfriend by biting on his shoes and belongings, according to department spokesperson Natalie Garcia. Nguyen had told her boyfriend she thought the dog was run over but did not admit to running over the animal herself, Garcia said.
On Sept. 8, Animal Services officers responded to 900 W. Park Lane, where Blackey was found dead. A neighbor told officers that she believed a woman intentionally killed the puppy with a minivan and, after canvassing the area, police found a surveillance video that corroborated the report.
The officers shared the shocking recording Wednesday in hopes of identifying the driver, whose license plate cannot be discerned in the clip.
The video shows a woman emerging from a Honda Odyssey parked at 926 W. Park Lane. at 9:15 a.m. on Sept. 8 and laying kibble on the ground near the driver’s-side door of the car. She places the puppy on the ground, where it rushes to eat the food, and then gets back into the minivan and drives forward, pinning the animal under her back left tire for around 15 seconds.
The woman then drives northbound on Lowell Street, leaving the fatally wounded puppy on the side of the road.
Officers were subsequently able to use automated license plate readers to identify the minivan and two addresses, one in Anaheim and another in Fountain Valley, that were associated with it, Garcia said. They knocked on the door of the Anaheim residence Thursday morning and found Nguyen inside and the vehicle parked in the garage.
“Thank you to everyone who shared this incident and contacted SAPD to offer support,” police said in a statement Thursday. “Investigative leads, primarily using [automated license plate reader] technology, helped detectives identify the vehicle, locate the suspect, and bring accountability for Blackey.”
Animal abandonment is a misdemeanor charge, while animal cruelty is a so-called wobbler offense that can be charged as a misdemeanor or felony. A case is being presented to the Orange County district attorney’s office for filing consideration, Garcia said.
Felony animal cruelty is punishable by up to three years in county jail and up to $20,000 in fines.
A San Diego County man was sentenced to two years in prison in 2024 for deliberately running over and killing a 17-year-old Bichon Frisé mix named Benny during a fit of road rage.
The post Woman allegedly caught on video running over Blackey the puppy is arrested by Santa Ana police appeared first on Los Angeles Times.
