An Orange County woman arrested for allegedly running over a pit bull puppy in Santa Ana last month is now facing a federal charge, according to the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ).
Hanh Minh Nguyen, 75, of Anaheim, was federally charged Thursday with animal crushing, nearly a month after being arrested by Santa Ana police, who used automated license plate-reading cameras to track her down.
Investigators had initially said Nguyen pulled up to a Santa Ana neighborhood on Sept. 8 and took the 9-month-old pit bull mix, named Blackey, out of the car. She then put the dog under her Honda Odyssey and sprinkled dog food near the driver’s side door to lure the dog, according to Santa Ana police and the DOJ. As the animal approached the food, Nguyen allegedly “slowly drove forward,” intentionally running over the puppy, “subjecting it to extreme physical pain and death.”
The DOJ said the 75-year-old will make her initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana in the coming weeks on the felony charge of animal crushing, which carries a statutory maximum sentence of seven years in federal prison.
“Luring a defenseless puppy with food only to crush him beneath a vehicle is an act of appalling cruelty,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli, emphasizing that his office is enforcing the federal Preventing Animal Cruelty and Torture (PACT) Act, signed into law by President Donald Trump during his first term in 2019.
An autopsy showed that the puppy’s cause of death was a crushed skull, leading to complete brain damage, according to the DOJ.
“The autopsy indicated that the puppy was alive for several minutes after this traumatic incident and was in severe pain before his death,” the Justice Department said in a statement.
Nguyen is also facing misdemeanor charges of animal cruelty and abandonment in Orange County.
When officers identified the woman using automated license plate reader technology and went to her house, she admitted to owning and abandoning the dog, according to Santa Ana police.
“Investigative leads, primarily using ALPR (automated license plate reader) technology, helped detectives identify the vehicle, locate the suspect, and bring accountability for what happened to Blackey,” the Santa Ana Police Department said on Oct. 1.
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