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Charged with more than 50 counts of animal cruelty
Charles City, VA (US)Incident Date: Tuesday, Apr 27, 2010
County: Charles City
Charges: Misdemeanor
Disposition: Convicted
Defendant/Suspect: Ronald Wayne Hartman
Case Updates: 1 update(s) available
A veteran Petersburg firefighter has been charged with more than 50 counts of animal cruelty, and another department captain is still awaiting trial on similar charges.
Capt. Ronald Wayne Hartman, 60, a 36-year veteran of the Petersburg Fire Department, was charged with 51 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals in Charles City County, where he lives. The charges were filed April 27 by the county's animal control officer and relate to dogs kept at Hartman's Roxbury Road home.
Joanne Williams, a spokeswoman for the city of Petersburg, said Hartman has been moved to desk duty pending the outcome of the case.
This is not the first time Hartman has faced prosecution over his treatment of dogs. In 2001, he was charged with 107 misdemeanor counts of not properly vaccinating dogs and was sentenced to pay fines totaling $5,400 and $3,574 in court costs.
In August 2007, Hartman was found guilty of one misdemeanor count of allowing a dog to run at large. One of Hartman's neighbors, who asked that her name be withheld, said Wednesday that she has to call Hartman from time to time to come get dogs of his that have gotten loose on her property.
Details of the current charges were not available. Calls concerning the case were referred to Charles City Commonwealth's Attorney Robert H. Tyler, who was out of the office this week due to a family emergency. A hearing in the case had been scheduled for Monday, but court records gave no indication of any outcome.
Another Petersburg fire captain faces a jury trial on more serious charges next month.
In January, Jeffrey T. Ivey, 36, was charged in Chesterfield County with cruelty to animals and failing to bury or cremate animals. In February, the charges were upgraded to two counts of felony animal cruelty and four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty under a new law passed last year by the General Assembly.
The law, enacted mainly in response to the case of football player Michael Vick, allows for a felony charge if a companion animal dies and neglect is found to have played a role. Previously, state law allowed only for misdemeanor charges in such cases.
Ivey's case was transferred from Chesterfield to a special prosecutor in the state Attorney General's Office, Assistant Attorney General Michelle Welch, a nationally recognized expert on animal law who provided advice to U.S. Attorney's Office lawyers in the sentencing phase of Vick's trial on dogfighting charges.
Trial in the case is scheduled for July 12. If Ivey is convicted, he could face a maximum penalty on each felony count of five years in jail and one year on each misdemeanor count.
Case UpdatesA Petersburg fire captain has pleaded guilty to 10 counts of animal cruelty and faces thousands of dollars in fines and costs, the second department member to be penalized this month for mistreating animals.
Ronald Wayne Hartman, 60, a 36-year veteran of the Petersburg Fire Department, had been charged with 51 misdemeanor counts of cruelty to animals in Charles City County, where he lives. The charges were filed April 27 by the county's animal control officer and relate to dogs kept at Hartman's Roxbury Road home.
On Wednesday, he pleaded guilty in Charles City General District Court to 10 of the counts. He was ordered to pay a fine of $500 on each of those counts, for a total of $5,000, plus $322 in court costs, and more than $11,000 to reimburse the county's animal shelter for the cost of caring for the dogs that were seized from his home. He was also given a suspended one-year sentence.
As part of his plea deal, Hartman also agreed not to keep more than seven pet animals.
Hartman is the second Petersburg Fire Department captain to face penalties for cruelty to animals this month. Last week, a Chesterfield County jury convicted Capt. Jeffrey T. Ivey, 36, on four misdemeanor counts of animal cruelty. He was ordered to pay $10,000 in fines.
Ivey also had been charged with two felony counts under a new law passed last year by the General Assembly. He was charged after animal control officers found four dead dogs at a home where he had been living off River Road in Matoaca. | Source: progress-index.com - Jul 21, 2010
Update posted on Nov 6, 2010 - 8:18PM |
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