Orange County Fire Authority Employee Gets Probation, Community Service Order In 2019 Shooting Death Of His Pit Bull
NEWPORT BEACH (CBSLA) -- An Orange County Fire Authority employee pleaded guilty on Wednesday in an animal death case.
46-year-old Ryan John Monteleone of Menifee accepted a plea deal, which dismissed his felony count of cruelty to animals.
Monteleone was accused of shooting his 4-year-old pit bull in the head and dumping the dog's body in a trash bin at his workplace in Irvine, officials said.
The incident happened around August 2019, when the dog's carcass was found by a Waste Management trash truck driver.
Monteleone, who worked as a heavy fire equipment operator for the fire authority for four years and was not a firefighter, was placed on three years of informal probation and must complete 250 hours of community service by April 1, 2022, court records state.
Monteleone's wife told investigators that the family adopted the pit bull about a year before the dog was killed and that the animal had attacked a donkey and an Amazon driver and killed a pet cat, according to the court filing.
The family also discussed that they couldn't afford a "sizable veterinarian bill" for putting down the animal, attorneys said in court papers.
If he was convicted at trial, Monteleone could have faced up to 3 1/2 years in custody.
(© Copyright 2021 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. City News Service contributed to this report.)