Newport Beach man gets 9 months in jail for killing his roommate’s dog

A 27-year-old Newport Beach man was sentenced to nine months in jail and five years probation after pleading guilty to animal cruelty, theft, making a false report and other charges in the killing of his roommate’s dog, prosecutors said.

Justin James Pope killed the dog on Aug. 30, 2017, then called his roommate to tell her about the death, the Orange County District Attorney’s office said in a news release.

They had been roommates for about a month.

After the woman called police, officers found blood, urine and feces “in suspicious locations,” but no property was missing, according to the statement.

Pope later staged a burglary, prosecutors said, removing evidence and ditching his roommate’s TV in a nearby apartment complex.

The roommate, who was not identified in the release, later called police to report the burglary. The TV, an Xbox and other items that were in the home during the earlier investigation were missing, authorities said.

Police located the missing TV and Xbox in the trunk of Pope’s vehicle and arrested him.

The Newport Beach Police Department Animal Control Unit handled the investigation.

The statement did not say how the dog was killed or include a motive.