Lake Forest Area Attack on Woman and Dog Lands Man in Prison

LAKE FOREST, CA — An elderly woman and her dog were walking in the Irvine area when preyed upon by an Irvine resident.

Craig Andrew Ledbetter, a 52-year-old Irvine man attacked the 70-year-0ld woman and her small dog.

"At approximately 2:45 p.m. on Sept. 29, the victim was walking her small dog on a leash in an Irvine neighborhood," Orange County District Attorney's Office Chief of Staff Susan Kang Schroeder said. "

Ledbetter screamed in the woman's direction and then pushed her to the ground.

"(Ledbetter) got on top of the victim and punched her in the face and chest," Kang-Schroeder said. "(He) stood up and repeatedly kicked the victim in the head."

At that point, Ledbetter took the victim’s small dog by the leash and swung the dog over his shoulder, an act of animal cruelty that was witnessed by several present.

"Witnesses called 911 and the Irvine Police Department, who investigated this case, responded to the scene," Kang Schroeder said. "Ledbetter resisted the police officers but was subsequently arrested."

The victim was transported to a local hospital to be treated for bleeding in the brain, a dislocated left arm, and eye injuries, among other injuries sustained in the attack.

"The victim’s small dog was not physically injured," she said.

He was convicted and sentenced to 10 years in state prison for attempted murder and animal cruelty, according to Kang-Schroeder.

"Ledbetter pleaded guilty to one felony count of attempted murder, one felony count of elder and dependent adult abuse, one misdemeanor count of animal cruelty, one misdemeanor count of resisting and obstructing an officer, and sentencing enhancements for great bodily injury to an elder," she said.

Deputy District Attorney Jennifer Duke of the Family Protection Unit prosecuted this case.