Southern California man charged for allegedly luring, kidnapping and beating cats to death

A Southern California man accused of stealing a Bengal Lynx cat and beating other felines to death will be arraigned on Wednesday and could face up to four years and four months in jail, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
The suspect, 46-year-old Alejandro Oliveros Acosta, was arrested on April 24 after allegedly "luring cats with cat food in order to kidnap the animals to stomp them and beat them to death," the district attorney's office said in a press release on Tuesday.
Oliveros Acosta was also accused of having methamphetamine on him when he was booked into jail, officials said.
Acosta has been charged with two counts of felony animal cruelty, one misdemeanor count of possession of a controlled substance and one felony count of theft of a companion animal after stealing a Bengal Lynx cat from a Westminster home in March, officials said.
Between November 2024 and April 2025, there were seven reports of dead and injured cats to Santa Ana Animal Control, including "animals suffering from broken backs and bloody faces," prosecutors said.
On March 21, a Westminster woman came home to find her Bengal Lynx cat, named Clubber, was missing, the district attorney's office said. Officials looked through video surveillance and found the suspect — later identified as Oliveros Acosta — with "what appeared to be a can of food, luring the cat before grabbing the animal and driving away in a white Toyota Tacoma pickup truck," prosecutors said.
MORE: Animal sanctuary owner, about 100 cats die in fire, officials say
Clubber was returned to his owners "after the theft was publicized," however, the suspect was unidentified at the time, prosecutors said.
On April 3, a Santa Ana man was leaving his home when he saw his neighbor, Oliveros Acosta, "pick up a cat over his head and slam it to the ground," officials said.
Two days later, animal control was called for reports of another cat "who was not moving," with video surveillance revealing Oliveros Acosta picking up the cat out of his truck, dropping it on the ground in order to "stomp on it with his foot," officials said.
After his arrest in April, Oliveros Acosta posted a $40,000 bail and was released before police finished their investigation and presented the case to the district attorney's office, officials said.
MORE: Florida man shoots neighbor's cow 5 times after it wandered onto his property
Prosecutors have asked for bail to be increased from the statutory $20,000 bail to $100,000 "given the danger Oliveros Acosta poses to public safety," officials said.
The investigation of the case remains ongoing and the district attorney's office said anyone with additional information should contact the Santa Ana and Westminster police departments to determine whether additional charges can be added.
It is unclear whether Oliveros Acosta has an attorney who can speak on his behalf.
Southern California man charged for allegedly luring, kidnapping and beating cats to death originally appeared on abcnews.go.com

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Learn with AIFact CheckingText to SpeechAI Summary

Related Articles

Yahoo

a day ago

• Yahoo

Driver fires gunshots at Tesla in Virginia road rage incident

SPOTSYLVANIA COUNTY, Va. - Police have released an image of a vehicle that was involved in a road rage incident in Virginia. Virginia State Police continue to investigate a road rage incident and shooting that occurred at approximately 2:15 p.m. Friday afternoon in the area of the 122-mile marker on Interstate 95 southbound in Spotsylvania County. Police say the incident occurred between a black Tesla and a pickup truck, possibly a black Toyota Tacoma. The Tesla was struck by gunfire multiple times following the road rage incident. There were no injuries. Anyone with any information on this incident is asked to contact Virginia State Police.

Yahoo

2 days ago

• Yahoo

Multi-vehicle crash causes a child to be ejected and I-64 closed for hours in Newport News

NEWPORT NEWS — A Friday night multi-vehicle crash on Interstate 64 caused hours of lane closures and many serious injuries, including those to a five-year-old who was ejected from a head-on collision, Virginia State Police said. Both eastbound and westbound lanes between mile markers 249 and 250 were closed for over four hours, state police said in a statement. That's near the Lee Hall reservoir and the Fort Eustis Boulevard exits. From a preliminary investigation, authorities found that the 45-year-old Massachusetts driver of a speeding Dodge Durango traveling eastbound hit the rear of a Hyundai Sonata, causing the Sonata to lose control and run off the roadway, striking a guardrail before stopping on the road's shoulder and in the westbound lanes. After hitting the Sonata, the Durango crossed the median of the highway and side-swiped a Toyota Tacoma, troopers said. The Durango continued speeding in the wrong direction on the westbound lanes until it hit a Nissan Altima head-on, stopping both vehicles. The Altima was being driven by a 39-year-old Yorktown driver and was carrying an improperly restrained 5-year-old, state police said, who was ejected from the Altima upon the impact. The child suffered life-threatening injuries, authorities said. All involved parties aside from the driver of the Tacoma were transported for medical treatment. All closed lanes were reopened at about 1:20 a.m. An investigation of the crash is ongoing. State police said that speed was a contributing factor in the crash and charges are pending. No additional details were immediately available.

San Francisco Chronicle​

2 days ago

• San Francisco Chronicle​

S.F. DA charges second suspect in antisemitic attack in Marina

A second suspect in a recent antisemitic attack in the Marina District was charged Friday with two counts of assault and hate crime, San Francisco District Attorney's Office said. Prosecutors said Alejandro Flores-Lamas, 22, was among a group of about six people who were walking on the 3100 block of Fillmore Street heard saying 'F— the Jews, Free Palestine' early Saturday morning and then attacked a bystander. The victim, 27, and a friend were sitting on a curb waiting for an Uber after a night out, the friend, Alana Gans, 28, told the Chronicle Sunday. Gans said she told one of the men that she was Jewish and asked him to leave, and he responded with 'f— you,' Gans recounted. The other men recorded what was happening on their cell phones, laughed and shouted 'f— Jews,' Gans said. Gans said members of the group started to beat the victim, who prosecutors said hit his head and lost consciousness. Prosecutors said Flores-Lamas and the other group members continued to punch and kick the victim when he was down. Gans said her friend suffered a swollen lip, two bumps on the front of his head and a third on the back of his head. She was also knocked to the ground but did not suffer any injuries, she said. Prosecutors said a worker at a nearby business heard the antisemitic language and attempted to intervene but was also kicked and punched. Earlier this week, another suspect in the attack was charged with two counts of assault and hate crime allegations. The man was ordered to remain in jail without bail Wednesday. Flores-Lamas was arraigned on Friday, and he pleaded not guilty to all charges and denied the allegations, prosecutors said. Flores-Lamas' next court date was scheduled for July 2 for a preliminary hearing on the case. Over the prosecutors' objection, the court released Flores-Lamas and will rule on the motion whether to detain him after the hearing. As conditioned by his release, Flores-Lamas was ordered to appear at all subsequent hearings and must not contact any of the victims, prosecutors said. This case was still an ongoing investigation, and anyone with information was asked to call the San Francisco Police Department tip line at 1-415-575-4444.