Horse kicked after falling into empty pool
McAlester, OK (US)

Incident Date: Friday, Oct 24, 2008
County: Pittsburg

Charges: Felony CTA
Disposition: Alleged

Alleged: Justin M. Williamson

A preliminary hearing conference has been continued until Nov. 21 for a man accused of kicking a horse in the head and ribs after it fell into a covered empty swimming pool at the Elks Club - with the horse now living in a pasture.

Justin M. Williamson, 24, of Rt. 6, McAlester, is charged with a felony count of cruelty to animals for the alleged offense. He also faces a misdemeanor count of obstructing an officer.

Williamson has pleaded innocent to the charge and his attorney, Russell Uselton, says he's ready to defend him.

"All the injuries happened when the horse fell into the pool and not from him kicking him," Uselton said on Friday.

Uselton also contended the horse is now doing fine and is being treated well.

He offered to show the News-Capital the horse where it's now located in a pasture in the Scipio area.

Following Williamson's arrest, the horse had been released to his father, Doug Williamson, who had not been at the Elks Club pool at the time of the incident and who was not accused of wrongdoing.

Doug Williamson said he has now given the horse to a friend of his son's who was with him at the Elks Club pool at the time of the Oct. 24 incident.

On Friday, the horse grazed in a pasture, pulling at grass and chewing it, although he lost at least one of his teeth while in the pool on Oct. 24, according to allegations.

Meanwhile, District 18 District Attorney Jim Bob Miller has filed an application to accelerate a previous deferred judgment and sentence of Justin Williamson's.

Court records show that Justin Williamson had pleaded guilty to knowingly concealing stolen property on March 4 in connection with an investigation into the theft of a stolen pickup.

"At that time, the court deferred a finding of guilt in this matter for 12 months and placed the defendant on probation," the district attorney said in his application to accelerate. Conditions of probation included the requirement that the defendant violate no other laws of the state.

In the application to accelerate, the district attorney noted that Williamson has now been charged with cruelty to animals and obstructing an officer.

In the application, Miller asks the court to issue an order setting a date for a hearing on the motion and for the further purpose of setting a bond on the motion to accelerate.

Williamson had been arrested on Oct. 24 after Pittsburg County Sheriff's deputies had been summoned to the Elks Club after the horse fell into the pool.

Sheriff's Dep. Tracy Parrott alleged in an affidavit filed in the case that Justin Williamson had struggled with officers and then broke away from them when they tried to arrest him.

Doug Williamson acknowledges he was not at the pool during the time period involving the allegations against his son, but he still maintains the horse's injuries occurred when it fell into the pool, not because of anything his son did.

He said the paint stud horse is not broke to ride and it had been taken to the stockyards to be sold on Oct. 24. However, nobody that day wanted to buy a stud horse that was not broke to ride, according to Doug Williamson.

At some point, the horse slipped out of its halter and ran across four lanes of traffic on U.S Highway 69, he said.

"Bubba tried to catch the horse at Angel's Diner," Doug Williamson said, referring to his son.

He said his son, who was riding another horse, tried to rope the stud, but missed, and the horse ran on down the road.

By all accounts, the horse eventually made its way to the Elks Lodge, where it ran over the top of a covered swimming pool - which was empty, or mostly empty - and the horse plunged into the pool.

Accounts agree that Justin Williamson and a friend then arrived at the pool and started trying to get the horse out of it.

Dep. Parrott, in an affidavit, said Dep. Kelly Stubblefield had arrived at the Elks Lodge before he did.

While Parrott headed to the Elks Lodge, he talked with Stubblefield by cell phone, according to the affidavit.

"He told me that when he arrived at the Elks Lodge he witnessed Justin Williamson kick the horse several times in the head while the horse was lying down," Parrott alleged in the affidavit.

"Stubblefield ordered Williamson to stop kicking the horse, but Williamson refused to comply with Stubblefield's request," Parrott alleged in the affidavit.

Parrott said he then advised dispatch to send more deputies to assist Stubblefield.

By the time he arrived, the horse was out of the pool, Parrott said.

Following Justin Williamson's arrest, questions were raised after Williamson's bond dropped from $50,000 to a recognizance bond on a motion of the state prosecutors.

Asked about the matter, Miller said that bonds are not allowed to be set as punishment, but instead are to be set on the basis of whether a defendant poses a flight risk.

Meanwhile, two members of the Partnership for Animal Welfare Society, Susan Kanard and Paige McClain, said they are satisfied with the way Miller is handling the case.

Kanard and McClain also said they have seen the horse where it's now located in the pasture and they are satisfied that the horse is now doing well.

References

• McAlester News

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