Girl Held in Animal Abuse, Burglaries

San Diego County sheriff’s deputies Tuesday announced the arrest of a 13-year-old girl who allegedly burglarized homes in Vista and Oceanside and, in several cases, tortured or killed the homeowners’ pets.

Authorities said the crimes began July 8, when Diane Chaney of Vista came home to find her house on Grapevine Lane “thoroughly ransacked,” her parakeet dead and the walls vibrating with rock music booming from the stereo.

Chaney said the bird “had been smashed into the wall, with its blood smeared all the way down the hall.”

She said a jar of pickles lay shattered on the kitchen floor, “with tomato juice and tuna fish everywhere. But the most damage was done to my daughter’s room, where all of her clothes had been hurled out of the drawers and cut up in shreds with mud smeared on them.”

“I just sat and cried,” Chaney said. “I couldn’t believe anyone could be so sick to do something like that. My 7-year-old daughter has had a hard time dealing with this.”

Authorities say the pattern in the break-ins, which occurred in seven residences in either Vista or Oceanside, was almost always the same: mindless destruction inside the house, with animals dead, near dead or missing, and rock music blaring on the stereo.

“This is an extreme example of a child acting out in a very negative way,” Deputy Pearl Janulewicz said. “We understand that this kid is a loner, who we believe acted alone. And, yes, we have had previous contacts with her.”

Janulewicz said the suspect, now in custody at Juvenile Hall, had been known to deputies because of “loitering, skipping school, violating curfews . . . a whole range of general truancy.”

Authorities describe the girl as the only child of an impoverished single mother. Janulewicz said the mother has been cooperative with deputies. Nothing in the girl’s behavior had indicated a sadistic streak involving animals, Janulewicz said.

She said that, in addition to the parakeet, the girl allegedly killed a rabbit and an aquarium full of fish. Authorities said that during one burglary, the girl allegedly dipped the testicles of a dog in household chemicals, causing injury that required several thousand dollars’ worth of veterinary care.

Janulewicz said one home sustained $20,000 in damage. In some cases, dogs belonging to one victim were stolen and placed inside the residence of another. Other dogs had been shaved or fed contaminated food.

In almost every case, Janulewicz said, the suspect’s calling card was taking tuna fish from the pantry and smearing it throughout the house. Profane graffiti and cut-up clothing were also found within each of the houses.

Janulewicz said the girl was arrested Monday night as a runaway, after having been away from home for more than a week. Neighbors became suspicious after seeing the girl in the area, accompanied by large dogs and knocking on people’s doors, asking for reward money for missing animals, Janulewicz said.

Sheriff’s Detective Leah Ellington, who made the arrest, said in a prepared statement that earlier burglaries matched one that occurred Sept. 19 in the 300 block of Huff Street in Vista. From witness descriptions, Ellington was able to identify the girl from previous contacts, the statement said. Witnesses then identified the girl from photographs, Ellington said, and she linked the girl’s fingerprints with those recovered after the burglaries.

The girl has been booked on suspicion of five counts of burglary, four counts of felony cruelty to animals, grand theft, two counts of possession of stolen property, two counts of felony vandalism and two counts of misdemeanor vandalism.

Deputies did not disclose her name or address because of her age.