San Mateo Man Beat Up Boyfriend, Killed Their Dog: DA

By Bay City News Service:

A San Mateo man was sentenced this week to 16 months of incarceration for hitting his boyfriend and killing their dog earlier this year, San Mateo County District Attorney Steve Wagstaffe said.

Josiah Fowler, 25, was eligible for probation but was uncooperative with the probation department, so San Mateo County Superior Court Judge Leland Davis sentenced him to 16 months in prison, the maximum sentence allowable according to a plea agreement Fowler reached in September, Wagstaffe said.

On Sept. 24, Fowler pleaded no contest to misdemeanor domestic violence and felony animal cruelty, prosecutors said.

His boyfriend, a 24-year-old man, had dated Fowler since January and the two lived together in San Mateo. On Sept. 14, Fowler’s boyfriend checked himself in to a hospital to get away from months of domestic violence incidents, prosecutors said.

He also told investigators that Fowler had beaten their small terrier, eventually throwing it down a flight of stairs and killing it. Fowler had brought the dog with him when he moved from Los Angeles, according to prosecutors, but buried it in a cemetery next to his boyfriend’s parents’ graves.

A plea agreement reduced Fowler’s domestic violence charge to a misdemeanor and the court agreed to sentence him to no more than 16 months in prison.

In court Tuesday, it was revealed he had not provided the probation department with the information they needed and in light of that, he received the maximum sentence, Wagstaffe said.

He has nearly four months’ credit for time served and will serve the sentence in county jail because of the state’s realignment policy.

(Image via Shutterstock)