Jul 18, 2008 3:32 pm US/Pacific
Man Who Stabbed Police Dog Gets 5 Years In Prison
TORRANCE
A man who was accused of stabbing Valor, a Redondo Beach police dog, was sentenced to five years and eight months in prison Friday, according to officials.
Jimmie Divo Lunceford was also sentenced for making criminal threats against the adult daughters of two of his ex-girlfriends.
Lunceford was given the maximum term by Torrance Superior Court Judge Sandra A. Thompson.
Lunceford was convicted March 18 of assault on a police animal, making criminal threats and trying to burglarize the home of one of his ex-girlfriend's daughters.
Valor -- brought into court by his handler during the trial and referred to as "Court Exhibit 7" -- was stabbed twice in the side of the neck last July 30.
Valor had to undergo an hour-long surgery.
Police were called to Lunceford's home in Redondo Beach July
30. Lunceford yelled at responding officers, telling them he had a knife and wanted them to shoot him, police said.
The police dog was injured after being sent to try to subdue Lunceford, and the canine's handler, Officer Ken Greenleaf, called the animal away.
Lunceford then dropped the knife and was arrested without incident, according to police. He has remained jailed since then.
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