'I kind of snapped': Man pleads guilty to assaulting girlfriend, grandpa and abusing puppy

PORTLAND, Ore. – A man pleaded guilty in Multnomah County Court Wednesday to assaulting his girlfriend and grandfather and abusing his girlfriend’s puppy.

Jaren Huber, 22, was sentenced to three years’ probation and at least 45 days in jail.

According to court documents, authorities first began investigating the animal abuse case in December 2017 after a woman brought her puppy to a veterinarian and said her boyfriend had kicked, strangled and attempted to poison the dog.

The woman told the veterinarian that her boyfriend had slammed the puppy onto the garage floor and squeezed the puppy around its neck.

The veterinarian found multiple fractured bones and saw the puppy’s eye was hemorrhaging.

The woman brought the puppy back to the veterinarian in January for a recheck. The puppy’s injuries were healing.

In January, an officer called Huber and inquired about the animal abuse.

Huber admitted he remembered the whole thing.

He said he was stressed and woke up one night in a bad mood. The puppy was in a kennel and when Huber opened it, the puppy wouldn’t come out. Huber said he tried to force the dog out, but it bit his finger.

Huber said he “kind of lost it and flipped out.” He said he grabbed the puppy by its neck and started hitting him multiple times, hard.

He also admitted he choked the puppy.

The officer asked Huber if he hit the puppy hard enough to injure it and he said, “Yea, I wasn’t really thinking about it I didn’t really want to hurt the dog. I hadn’t planned on it I kind of snapped, you know?”

Huber said he admitted himself into a psychiatric ward the day after and had been taking medication. He admitted he has had problems with his temper in the past.

Huber was also facing abuse charges from an incident that occurred on Feb. 4, 2018.

Gresham police officers responded to an apartment for a report of a woman screaming for help.

When they arrived, Huber’s grandfather said his grandson had tried strangling him.

Officers found Huber and his girlfriend downstairs with their infant child.

According to a probable cause affidavit, the woman was trying to comfort Huber, but mouthed the words “help” and “I need help” to an officer.

The officer noticed the woman had been crying and she appeared visibly shaken.

The woman stepped out of the room to speak with another officer. She said she and Huber had argued earlier in the night, but both went to bed and fell asleep. She said a short time before officers arrived she woke and accidentally woke Huber up. She said he was instantly angry and started yelling. The sound then woke the baby and the baby started crying. She said this made Huber more aggressive.

She said Huber grabbed her face and squeezed her cheeks so tightly that the inside of her cheek began bleeding. An officer confirmed the woman’s cheek was bruised and swollen.

When Huber’s grandfather entered the room, the woman broke free from Huber’s grasp, ran through the living room and out the front door. She began yelling for help.

Huber’s grandfather tried to intervene and said Huber grabbed him by the neck with both hands and strangled him for about 10 seconds.

Both the grandfather and the girlfriend said Huber has mental issues that cause him to have bouts of uncontrollable anger and rage. They said he has medication, but does not take it as directed.