Santa Clara firefighter, Nicholas Luiz, 32, arrested for allegedly killing puppy

CALIFORNIA -- A firefighter with the Santa Clara Fire Department is off the job following his arrest this week after he reportedly admitted to killing his pet German shepherd at his Napa home, and police allege he had been abusing the animal for its entire five-month life, authorities said.

Nicholas Joseph Luiz, 32, was arrested Wednesday and booked on suspicion of felony animal cruelty, according to a news release from the Napa Police Department. He is not in jail.

Santa Clara Fire Chief Bill Kelly said Luiz has been placed on paid administrative leave and that the department has launched an internal investigation.

"It was disturbing when I heard this news," Kelly said. "We are taking this very seriously."

Officers were called Tuesday night to Luiz's home on Massa Drive after receiving multiple complaints that he had been abusing his dog "for the last several months" and that he may have killed the animal. The officers knocked on the door but got no answer and returned Wednesday morning with a search warrant.

Nicholas Luiz and his wife tortured a puppy to death in this house

"That evening by about 11:45 our dispatch center received a call that a neighbor who lived in the 1100 block of Messa Drive had been beating his dog and they believed it was deceased," said Napa Police Captain Jeff Troendly.

Luiz and his wife did not answer the door that night, so police waited outside. With a search warrant in hand, at 8:30 a.m. the next morning, the couple had no choice but to allow police in.

While serving the warrant, police said they found the dog dead at the home, and that Luiz admitted to killing the animal. Napa police Capt. Jeff Troendly said investigators believe the dog was repeatedly slammed to the ground in the backyard.

Authorities found the 5-month-old German shepherd dead in the laundry room wrapped in a plastic bag.

The wife needs to be charged as well.

A listed phone number for Luiz appeared to be disconnected when called by this newspaper.

(Inside Bay Area - Dec 31, 2015)