The Riverside County district attorney's office will file animal cruelty charges against a Menifee man accused of beating a 9-year-old Chihuahua to death with a golf club, a spokesman for the agency said Tuesday.

Larry Edward Jaurequi, 58, was arrested Jan. 26 after neighbors allegedly saw him walk up to the dog, which had wandered into a cul-de-sac, and swing the club at the dog "as if driving a golf ball off its tee,'' Riverside County sheriff’s investigators said in a statement.

The dog, Lily, flew through the air. The animal suffered a lacerated liver, broken leg and head trauma, and later died of its injuries.

The incident happened after two dogs, the Chihuahua and a poodle mix, got loose in the area of High Ridge Circle in Perris while their owner was at work. The dogs' owner found the injured Chihuahua as Jaurequi was walking away, and then rushed the animal to an emergency veterinarian.

Jaurequi was released from jail after posting $5,000 bail.

Along with the animal cruelty charge, Jaurequi faces an enhancement for using a dangerous or deadly weapon. If convicted, he could face a maximum sentence of four years in prison, according to John Hall, spokesman for Dist. Atty. Paul Zellerbach.

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-- Phil Willon in Riverside

Photo: Larry Edward Jaurequi. Credit: Riverside County Sheriff's Department