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North Hollywood Actor Accused Of Eating Ex's Rabbit, Making Criminal Threats

NORTH HOLLYWOOD (CBSLA.com) — A North Hollywood man accused of killing his former girlfriend's rabbit and threatening to do the same to her was charged Wednesday with two counts, authorities said.

Dimitri Diatchenko, 46, faces one felony count each of cruelty to an animal with a use of knife allegation and making a criminal threat. Diatchenko is an actor who has had roles on "Bones" and "Sons of Anarchy."

He is accused of killing the pet rabbit named Ella Sunday after the woman told him "they should no longer be roommates," according to the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office.

The pair had been living together for some time after their romantic relationship ended, KNX 1070's Jon Baird reports.

"While the victim was out of the house, Diatchenko skinned the pet, cooked it and ate half of it while sending her step-by-step pictures of what he did," prosecutors said.

When the woman returned home, Diatchenko allegedly said he would do the same to her.

Police told KCAL9's Kristine Lazar Diatchenko admitted to killing, cooking and eating the rabbit.

However, Diatchenko over the phone told Lazar: "This is all a misunderstanding. We got into an argument, but I didn't kill the bunny. This was a hoax."

Diatchenko says he bought rabbit meat at the store and set his ex's bunny free so she would think it was her dead bunny in the refrigerator, Lazar reports.

Diatchenko faces a maximum sentence of nearly five years in jail, if convicted. He is free on $50,000 bond.

KCAL9's Serene Branson spoke with a woman who says she is Diatchenko's ex-girlfriend and similarly states that the incident is a misunderstanding.

"This is just all ridiculous. Completely untrue. Everybody's fine. The bunny's fine. Nothing happened to her. She's at my house," the unidentified woman said.

She also told Branson she contacted law enforcement initially believing Ella was harmed.

"Just an angry moment. He got a bunny from the store just to mess with me," she said.

The woman says Ella was in the closet the entire time but declined to provide pictures or show Ella Wednesday night.

"I've been trying to get this all cleared up and it will be cleared up," she said. "It's all ridiculous."

Meanwhile, Diatchenko is scheduled to be arraigned Dec. 30 at a Van Nuys court.

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