BY DAN HILDEBRAN
A 23-year-old Middleburg man was sentenced to three years’ probation after pleading to failing to feed a dog tethered to a mobile home, resulting in its death.
Aaron Luke Stephens pleaded to animal cruelty and resisting an officer.
According to an arrest report, Bradford deputies were called to a Lincoln City address after evicted renters of a mobile home refused to leave.
Still alive but could not move
In the report, Deputy Glen Ward, Jr. wrote that he told the residents they had to leave immediately.
“While they went inside to gather some items,” wrote Ward. “I checked the side of the trailer, where I observed a black dog tied to the trailer tongue with a walking leash, severely skinny and in distress. The animal was still alive but could not move.”
Ward reported that no water or food was near the animal, and he called animal services due to the severity of the dog’s condition.
The deputy added that Aaron Stevens, Mark Stevens, and James McLoon denied owning the dog but admitted they knew it was tied to the mobile home.
“Aaron stated he knew the dog was out there but didn’t want the dog,” wrote Ward in the report. “Aaron stated he tried to feed the dog and did not call for any medical treatment for the dog. Mark Stevens also denied ownership of the dog and knew the dog was outside. James stated he knew the dog was outside and had been in the same place since Saturday. James said he was going to take the dog to the vet today but admitted to not getting the dog medical help in spite of knowing it was in that condition.”
The deputy reported that when he and other officers tried to handcuff the three defendants, Aaron Stevens walked away and pulled away when a sergeant tried to restrain him.
Ward wrote that the trio surrendered three additional canines at their residence. He added that McLoon kicked one of the dogs in the side after the white bulldog became aggressive toward an animal control officer.
“All four dogs were taken to Animal Services for evaluations,” wrote Ward. “The black dog had to be put down by Animal Services due to the dog’s condition while on-scene.”
Charges of animal cruelty are pending against Mark Stevens and James McLoon.
‘What I’m reading is atrocious’
During a January 29 hearing, Aaron Stevens’s attorney, Donald B. Mairs, and Assistant State Attorney Ryan King presented a plea agreement to Judge James M. Colaw. The agreement specified probation, 87 days in jail with credit for 87 days already served, completion of an anger management class, a mental health evaluation, and 100 hours of community service. The agreement left it up to the judge whether or not to withhold adjudication of guilt.
“What I’m reading is atrocious,” Colaw told the lawyers as he viewed court documents. “Just awful. But I know there are three individuals, so I don’t know if the others have involvement too.”
King answered that three defendants were charged with animal cruelty and that, in his view, McLoon was the most culpable, having served time in prison for the same offense.
King added that Mark Stevens also has a criminal history, but Aaron Stevens does not.
Mairs told Colaw that his client owned one of the other dogs seized by animal control but not the black dog that died. The lawyer said Aaron Stevens’s dog was a red pointer in “good shape” when officers took control of the canines.
The judge sentenced Stevens according to the terms of the plea agreement. He adjudicated Stevens guilty on the misdemeanor resisting charge and withheld adjudication for the felony animal cruelty charge.
