HAMPTON — The husband of a Hampton sheriff’s lieutenant was arrested Tuesday and charged with mistreating several pit bulls on the couple’s property in Phoebus.
Michael A. Johnson Sr., 59, of Ireland Street, faces three felony counts of promoting or being engaged in “the fighting of animals for amusement, sport or gain,” with the charges indicating Johnson had a device or substance on hand to enhance the dogs’ ability to fight or “inflict injury upon another animal.”
Johnson also faces 17 misdemeanor counts — a misdemeanor dog fighting count, eight misdemeanor animal cruelty charges and eight misdemeanor counts of failing to adequately care for his dogs.
Johnson is married to Sheriff’s Lt. Carolyn Johnson, a law enforcement source said. The 58-year-old lieutenant holds a high-ranking post as the agency’s executive secretary, working closely with Hampton Sheriff Karen Bowden, the source added. The city’s human resources department said Lt. Johnson has been with the agency since 1999.
The Sheriff’s Office issued a mistaken press release on Tuesday evening — nearly immediately retracted — saying Hampton police had charged a sheriff’s lieutenant following “an incident occurring off duty.” The release said the lieutenant had been placed on administrative leave pending an investigation by both agencies.
That news release was recalled within about five minutes of its issuance.
On Wednesday afternoon, a Hampton police spokeswoman, Sgt. Ashley Jenrette, said police “have not charged any deputy” — including any lieutenant — in the ongoing investigation.
“As of this email correspondence, no arrests have been made involving any deputies in this office,” Hampton Sheriff’s Office spokeswoman Lt. Bionca Moore added in a later email. Moore did not respond to a follow-up question on whether the Sheriff’s Office had placed Lt. Johnson on administrative leave.
No one answered the door Wednesday afternoon at the couple’s home on Ireland Street, in the city’s Phoebus section.
A criminal complaint by animal control officer S. Denney said he “responded … to the residence of Michael and Carolyn Johnson” on Monday. But Michael Johnson “was uncooperative and refused to allow Animal Control onto his property to perform a welfare check” on his dogs, the officer said.
Denney came back Tuesday morning armed with a search warrant, finding eight pit bulls — four fully grown and four puppies — “in poor conditions,” according to the complaint, filed Wednesday in Hampton General District Court.
The dogs were found in or near a shed on the property, court documents said.
“There was feces in all of the kennels, the puppies had no access to water, one adult dog had no access to shelter,” Denney wrote in the complaint. “The four adult dogs had dirty water, and all eight dogs appeared to be suffering from flea infestation.”
“There were fleas jumping all over my pants, and I could see them on the skin of each of the dogs,” the investigator wrote. “Their fur was very thin, and skin was rough and raw from constant scratching.” The canines also had “bleeding ears,” which Denney said stemmed from the fleas.
Denney wrote that he got a second search warrant — this time for inside the home — and found documents and paraphernalia “associated with the breeding and conditioning of fighting dogs.”
Jenrette, of the Hampton police, said the Hampton Animal Response Team removed all eight dogs and took them to the Peninsula Regional Animal Shelter in Newport News.
Court documents said Michael Johnson has lived in the area his entire life, is on disability and lives with his wife and sons. He was released Tuesday on a $5,000 bond. “No animals in residence until authorized to do so by the court,” a magistrate wrote in a bail document.
Peter Dujardin, 757-247-4749, [email protected]
