Higher Bail Denied for Man Charged with Beating Girlfriend and Puppy

A motion was denied this week to increase the bail of Duanying Chen, a 20-year-old charged with domestic battery and animal cruelty stemming from an incident last May when he reportedly strangled his girlfriend and beat her puppy so badly it had to be euthanized. The dog, five months old at the time, suffered broken bones, cuts, burns, and wounds to its rectum and genitals.

The District Attorney’s Office’s request to increase Chen’s bail was based on an additional charge of dissuading a witness, related to a phone call Chen made from jail shortly after he was arrested. Chen, who has been represented by three different defense attorneys since his arrest, was released from custody on his own recognizance in December. He will be back in court for a preliminary hearing on March 26.