Santa Ana alleged serial cat killer charged with animal cruelty

A Santa Ana man who allegedly lured, harmed and killed neighborhood cats has been charged with animal cruelty.

Alejandro Oliveros Acosta was charged with two counts of animal cruelty and a count of grand theft of a pet, all felonies. He was also charged with a misdemeanor count of possession of methamphetamine, according to the criminal complaint.

Over March and April, word spread among neighbors in Westminster and Santa Ana about a man luring cats away from their homes. Home-surveillance footage of incidents was shared on social media. After receiving multiple reports of neighborhood cat abuse and deaths over several weeks, a police investigation led to Acosta as the suspect. Detectives issued a search warrant at the home of the 45-year-old and found evidence of dozens of dead cats, police said.

Acosta is also suspected of abducting a Bengal Lynx cat from its Westminster home in March, police said. The 10-month-old cat named Clubber was returned to its owner after she posted online about it. Eva Corlew said her home security cameras captured a man grabbing Clubber and carrying it into a white truck. 

Corlew said after she shared her story in a neighborhood chatroom, she learned that similar incidents happened to people in Santa Ana. 

Acosta was arrested and booked at the Santa Ana jail in late April, but posted bail and was released. He is scheduled to be arraigned on Wednesday.