Granada Hills Man Sentenced in Killing of Rabbits at Refuge
A Granada Hills man was sentenced Thursday to 20 days of community service and two years of probation for killing four rabbits in the Sepulveda Dam Wildlife Refuge and his partner was sentenced to one year of probation and a $150 fine for trespassing, authorities said.
Van Nuys Municipal Judge Alan Ellis ordered 20-year-old Karen Akopyan to work on a Caltrans cleanup crew after he pleaded no contest to the misdemeanor charges, said Don Cocek, the deputy city attorney who prosecuted the case.
Akopyan’s partner, Alfred Davtyan, 24, of Northridge pleaded no contest to trespassing in a city park, Cocek said.
Both men were ordered to stay away from the wildlife refuge while they are on probation, according to the city attorney’s office.
Cocek said that when Los Angeles park rangers found them in the wildlife refuge July 14 about 3:30 a.m., Akopyan had an air rifle and four dead rabbits.
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