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This guy is amazing. Drives a stolen car to his own courtdate over another stolen car and leaves his goddamn dogs in the car to gather unneeded attention. 
A man pleaded guilty in Marin Superior Court on Tuesday to driving a stolen car to his own jury trial over a stolen car.
Tony Van, 37, admitted to receiving a stolen vehicle and receiving stolen property, said Deputy District Attorney Aicha Mievis. He also admitted to an infraction for leaving a group of tiny Yorkshire dogs in the car on a sweltering October day, Mievis said.
In exchange for the plea, a judge agreed to sentence him to no more than two years and eight months in state prison.
The incident occurred when Van went to court to wait for the jury's verdict on charges he was in possession of a $125,000 Porsche Carrera that had been stolen in San Anselmo.
While Van was inside the courthouse, some bystanders in the parking lot noticed a group of Yorkies running loose near a Lexus. The witnesses called sheriff's deputies, who learned that more dogs were inside the Lexus, and, moreover, that the Lexus was stolen.
Then Van walked out to the Lexus with the keys in hand, and was arrested for being in possession of a stolen car.
Then the jury convicted him in the original case.
In the matter of the Lexus and the Yorkies, prosecutors charged Van with receiving a stolen vehicle, receiving stolen property, animal cruelty and leaving animals in an unattended vehicle under dangerous conditions. During a preliminary hearing last month, Judge Kelly Simmons ruled there was insufficient evidence to try Van for the animal cruelty charge.
Van was scheduled to go to trial for the second time on Feb. 20, but he pleaded guilty Tuesday instead. His prison sentence will cover both the Lexus and the Porsche. Sentencing is Feb. 25.
Van's lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Peter Arian, declined to comment on the guilty plea.
The Yorkies are still in the care of the Marin Humane Society, Mievis said. The dogs included four adults and three puppies, all Yorkies or Maltese/Yorkshire mixes.
Tony Van, 37, admitted to receiving a stolen vehicle and receiving stolen property, said Deputy District Attorney Aicha Mievis. He also admitted to an infraction for leaving a group of tiny Yorkshire dogs in the car on a sweltering October day, Mievis said.
In exchange for the plea, a judge agreed to sentence him to no more than two years and eight months in state prison.
The incident occurred when Van went to court to wait for the jury's verdict on charges he was in possession of a $125,000 Porsche Carrera that had been stolen in San Anselmo.
While Van was inside the courthouse, some bystanders in the parking lot noticed a group of Yorkies running loose near a Lexus. The witnesses called sheriff's deputies, who learned that more dogs were inside the Lexus, and, moreover, that the Lexus was stolen.
Then Van walked out to the Lexus with the keys in hand, and was arrested for being in possession of a stolen car.
Then the jury convicted him in the original case.
In the matter of the Lexus and the Yorkies, prosecutors charged Van with receiving a stolen vehicle, receiving stolen property, animal cruelty and leaving animals in an unattended vehicle under dangerous conditions. During a preliminary hearing last month, Judge Kelly Simmons ruled there was insufficient evidence to try Van for the animal cruelty charge.
Van was scheduled to go to trial for the second time on Feb. 20, but he pleaded guilty Tuesday instead. His prison sentence will cover both the Lexus and the Porsche. Sentencing is Feb. 25.
Van's lawyer, Deputy Public Defender Peter Arian, declined to comment on the guilty plea.
The Yorkies are still in the care of the Marin Humane Society, Mievis said. The dogs included four adults and three puppies, all Yorkies or Maltese/Yorkshire mixes.
Awesome
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