VISTA, Calif. -- A man who led officers on a New Year's Eve chase while drunk, then killed a police dog by jumping off the San Diego-Coronado Bridge with the animal, was sentenced Wednesday to nearly four years in state prison.

Cory Byron, 28, pleaded guilty last Sept. 10 to one count each of felony evading and driving under the influence. He also entered a no contest plea to a misdemeanor charge of harming a service animal.

Byron, who has previous DUI convictions from 2003 and 2005, was sentenced to the maximum 44-month term under the plea agreement by Vista Superior Court Judge Joel Pressman.

Oceanside police Officer Kedrick Sadler testified at a hearing last year that he had just left the station with his dog, Stryker, when he spotted a possible drunken driver in a pickup truck swerving from lane to lane on nearby State Route 76.

Sadler said he turned on his overhead lights, then activated his siren when the driver didn't stop. Byron made a U-turn against a red arrow at Melrose Drive and went westbound of SR 76, running red lights at numerous intersections before striking a vehicle at College Avenue.

The defendant turned south on Interstate 5, exited at Pershing Drive in downtown San Diego and a U-turn to return to the freeway, Sadler said.

According to the officer, the pickup went onto the bridge but stopped at mid-span after striking a wall. Sadler said he deployed Stryker when the defendant got out of his vehicle and acted like he was about to run, despite commands to stay put.

Stryker grabbed Byron's left arm and took him down to the roadway next to a concrete barrier. The dog continued gripping the defendant's arm as he got up and turned in a motion that seemed as if he was trying to fling the canine over the wall, the officer said.

Sadler said he tried to reach his dog, but Byron put his leg onto the barrier and went over with the animal still attached.

The defendant was rescued immediately after the fall and was hospitalized for more than a week with a collapsed lung and other injuries.

Stryker was buried at Camp Pendleton.

Byron's blood-alcohol level was measured at .17 percent four hours after the pursuit and accident, a CHP officer testified.