A Virginia cop copped a plea after being accused of fatally shooting his fiancée’s dog — and then lying that he accidentally killed the pooch while fighting off a bear attack.
Richard R. Chinappi III, a patrol officer with the Richmond Police Department, pleaded no contest to felony animal cruelty charges stemming from the Oct. 19 incident at the couple’s home, according to The Richmond Times- Dispatch.
Chinappi, 27, also pleaded guilty to filing a false report with law enforcement about the beagle-hound mix’s death.
Deputies from the Powhatan County Sheriff’s Office had responded to a call from the fiancée’s father about a bear attack at his daughter’s home, according to a summary of evidence filed by Powhatan Deputy Commonwealth’s Attorney Rob Cerullo.
When officers arrived at the home, they found Chinappi showing signs of intoxication. They found blood splattered across the kitchen and smeared across the floor that appeared “semi cleaned up,” officials said. Cops also found Clorox wipes and a bottle of bleach.
Chinappi told officers that he had been in the bathroom when he heard footsteps from the back deck. He said the dog began barking and he realized that a bear had entered through the back of the house. Chinappi said he grabbed his shotgun and fired at the bear before it carried the dog away.
Deputies pushed Chinappi after his story did not add up. No signs of a bear being in or even near his home were found, although there was evidence of a gun fired inside the home.
Chinappi then changed his story, and said one of the shots he fired went through the bear and struck the dog, adding that he then buried the pup in the woods nearby.
The dog’s remains were sent for a veterinary examination, which determined the pet had been shot a close range and had a “huge hole” in its body with remnants of shotgun pellets.
Chinappi, who was hired by the department in October 2016, was placed on administrative leave after his arrest.
The deputy commonwealth’s attorney said Chinappi’s lawyer wrote in a letter to the Virginia Department of Criminal Justice Services that his client intends to voluntarily surrender his law enforcement certification.
He is scheduled to be sentenced on March 11.
With Post wires
