Man Who Set Dog On Fire To Be Sentenced This Week

UNIVERSITY HEIGHTS, OH — A man who set a caged dog on fire will be sentenced this week, prosecutors announced.

Antonio Johnson, 28, used lighter fluid and newspaper to set fire to a caged dog in East Cleveland, officials said. The dog was being kept at a home on Nelacrest Road. Johnson ran off before police arrived.

Officers extinguished the fire and took the dog to a veterinarian clinic. The dog was euthanized because it had suffered burns on more than 30 percent of its body, prosecutors said.

East Cleveland police identified Johnson as the suspect. On Sept. 24, 2019, he was taken into custody at his home in University Heights.

On Jan. 6, 2020, Johnson pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals, a fifth-degree felony. He was originally scheduled to be sentenced in February but due to conflicts and then COVID-19 his sentencing was pushed back to July.

Johnson will be sentenced Thursday, July 16, prosecutors said.