A 75-year-old Anaheim woman is facing federal and state felony charges after surveillance footage allegedly captured her luring her nine-week-old pit bull puppy under a minivan and running it over in Santa Ana.
Federal prosecutors charged Hanh Minh Nguyen on Thursday with one count of animal crushing, a felony that carries a statutory maximum penalty of seven years in federal prison. The incident occurred on Sept. 8 in the 900 block of West Park Lane in Santa Ana, according to local police.
Investigators stated that surveillance video showed the driver of an older Honda Odyssey minivan open the door, release the puppy, and drop food near the driver’s side to draw the animal toward the rear tire. The driver then moved the vehicle forward, stopped with the tire resting on top of the puppy for approximately 15 seconds, and drove away.
An autopsy conducted on the pit bull revealed that the animal died from a crushed skull that caused complete brain damage. The medical findings indicated that the puppy remained alive for several minutes following the impact and experienced severe physical pain before dying.
Santa Ana police tracked the minivan using automated license plate reader technology, eventually locating the vehicle inside Nguyen’s garage. Detectives arrested her on Oct. 1, noting that she admitted to owning and abandoning the puppy. In addition to the federal case, the Orange County District Attorney’s Office has filed state charges against Nguyen in Orange County Superior Court, including felony animal cruelty, animal abuse by a caretaker, and a felony enhancement for using a vehicle as a weapon.
Authorities have not disclosed a motive explaining why Nguyen allegedly abandoned and killed her pet.
Law enforcement and community members expressed profound shock over the recorded footage. First Assistant United States Attorney Bill Essayli condemned the act, stating, “Luring a defenseless puppy with food only to crush him beneath a vehicle is an act of appalling cruelty. Thanks to President Trump signing the PACT Act into law, we can bring federal charges for the horrific abuse alleged in this case. We will use every federal tool available to hold animal abusers accountable.”
Santa Ana Police Department spokesperson Officer Natalie Garcia described the video as exceptionally disturbing. “It’s completely horrendous,” Garcia said. “It’s very graphic and very sad to see that this person would do something to an innocent little puppy.” She added that it marked one of the worst cases of animal abuse she had encountered.
Donato Orlando, the Santa Ana resident whose home security system recorded the incident, recalled the discovery. “It was horrible. I don’t know how somebody would even do something like that to any animal,” Orlando said, noting that the driver left the wheel on the puppy for a prolonged period before leaving.
Nguyen is scheduled to appear in Orange County Superior Court on Nov. 2 to face her state-level felony counts. She is also expected to make an initial appearance in U.S. District Court in Santa Ana to answer the federal animal crushing charge. The federal case is being investigated by the FBI and the Santa Ana Police Department, with prosecution led by the U.S. Attorney’s Environmental Crimes and Consumer Protection Section.
