Smith violates probation, sentenced to two years in prison

By Neal Putnam

A Ramona man who was arrested on a warrant by sheriff’s deputies who shot and killed a pit bull afterwards has been sentenced to two years in state prison for felony assault upon a man in 2011.

Jared Michael Smith, 24, was arrested Dec. 2 because he violated terms of probation in a case in which he pleaded guilty to felony assault, according to court records in El Cajon Superior Court.

Smith was sentenced Jan. 3 by Judge John Thompson, who fined him $424. Thompson gave him credit for already serving 224 days in jail. He declined to put Smith on probation again.

Smith also appeared Jan. 7 before Judge Roger Krauel for violating terms of his probation in a misdemeanor case that involved alcohol abuse. Records say Smith pleaded guilty to hit and run, being drunk in public, and committing reckless driving in an April 26, 2011, incident when he lived in Santee.

Smith had been on probation for the misdemeanors, and Krauel terminated the case because of the prison sentence. He received credit of serving 73 days in jail in 2011.

The cases have nothing to with the pit bull incident on Brandiron Street as deputies were there because of a warrant for Smith’s arrest. Deputies say the pit bull advanced toward them and they shot him to death.

Brianna Fox, the dog’s owner, said the dog did not attack the deputies and had a tennis ball in his mouth at the time. In an email, she said she is considering options in possible legal action against the sheriff’s department.