A man who was on probation for stabbing a police dog in the Midway District in 2021 has pleaded guilty to stabbing a second police dog.

Dedrick Daknell Jones, 37, faces up to 12 years and four months in state prison, according to Deputy District Attorney Clay Biddle.

Jones had acted as his own lawyer through one trial last November in which he was convicted of brandishing a knife at a police officer, but jurors deadlocked on other charges days before they were discharged for the Thanksgiving break.

He received another attorney in March after a judge decided he wanted to see if Jones was mentally competent before he was to have another trial. Another judge determined he was mentally fit for trial.

Jones’ attorney could not be reached for comment, but he was able to reach a plea agreement with Biddle after Jones pleaded guilty to the rest of the charges.

San Diego Superior Court Judge Dwayne Moring set sentencing for June 8. Jones remains in the George Bailey Detention Facility without bail.

He also pleaded guilty to felony animal cruelty, assault upon a police dog, and resisting arrest to an executive officer.

The first police dog stabbed was Titan, who had six to eight inches of his colon surgically removed and he received more than 100 stitches in the operation in the January 2021 incident.

Jones pleaded guilty to animal cruelty and received a year in jail. Upon release, he became homeless in the Midway District and a business operator called police on a vandalism complaint in the 3700 block of Riley St. on Dec. 17, 2021.

Officers showed up and Jones pulled a knife and he walked backward into traffic on Rosecrans Street. A police dog, Hondo, was deployed, and Hondo was stabbed twice, but not as seriously as the first dog.

Officers kept telling Jones to drop the knife in both incidents before releasing the dog. Jones insisted he would not drop the knife unless they removed the dog.

Police Chief David Nisleit was angered when Jones was arrested for the second time, saying it was “tragic that the man who had the gall to stab a police dog…committed the same crime just months later.”

Nisleit called for Jones to be “prosecuted to the full extent of the law so that he will not have the opportunity to cause further harm.”

“Our system must do a better job holding violent offenders accountable,” said the police chief after Jones’ second arrest in 2021.