Case Snapshot
Case ID: 18223
Classification: Other
Animal: dog (pit-bull)
More cases in Shelby County, TN
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Animal was offleash or loose
Person(s) in animal care
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Attorneys/Judges
Defense(s): Erika Eubanks
Judge(s): Karen Massey


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Friday, Jun 24, 2011

County: Shelby

Disposition: Alleged
Case Images: 1 files available

Alleged: Demetria Hogan

Case Updates: 6 update(s) available

A Memphis Animal Services employee was arrested Wednesday on two counts of animal cruelty in connection with a missing dog.

After she turned herself in to be booked at Jail East on two counts of animal cruelty, Action News 5 was there Demetria Hogan was released on $100 dollars bond.

"I'm not able to talk to the media," she said as she passed our camera.

Hogan, who is accused in the disappearance of Kapone, an 11-year-old pit bull, had very little to say as she left jail East.

According to Memphis police, Hogan took Jersey, the three-year-old dog to the shelter. But Kapone never made it to the shelter.

"The General Assignments Bureau will now reach out to her and try to get additional information from her," Memphis Police Department spokesperson Karen Rudolph said.

Hogan was the responding officer to pick up two dogs owned by Brooke and Darrell Shoup after they escaped from the couple's yard in June 24. When they went to recover their dogs at the shelter the next day, only one dog, a 3-year old pit bull mix named Jersey, was at the shelter. While dispatch records confirm that two dogs were picked up, there was no record of the couple's 11-year old American Staffordshire Terrier, Kapone, at the shelter.

According to the police affidavit, Hogan was dispatched to pick up the two dogs and took custody at 10:45am on June 24. She noted on her log sheet and called dispatch 30 minutes later to say she was going home, and did not return to the shelter until almost 1:00pm. Hogan then noted on the logs that she checked in Kapone at a holding area in the shelter, but video surveillance did not show her bringing in either dog.

Shortly after 1:00pm, Hogan was seen leaving the shelter with the second dog, Jersey, still in the truck. Hogan returned to the shelter around 2:20pm, and a shelter supervisor stated to police that he carried Jersey off the truck himself at 3:00pm.

Brooke Shoup says two days after holding a news conference announcing a reward for her missing dog Kapone, the animal control officer showed up at her home.

"She introduced herself as Demetria Hogan and said, 'I'm the animal control officer who picked up your dogs.'"

Shoup said Hogan told her she picked up both of her dogs, Kapone and their other pit bull mix, Jersey. Hogan then told Shoup she took both dogs to the shelter, only the city said Jersey was the only dog actually checked in. Meanwhile, Kapone has been missing for nearly 3 weeks.

Rudolph said investigators are also trying to determine Hogan's alleged involvement in a separate animal cruelty incident earlier this week.

According to Memphis police, " saying she "violated a Department Regulation and/or City of Memphis Personnel Manuel Policies." The letter went on to say:

- The employee has violated a provision set forth in the City of Memphis Personnel Manuel Policies and Procedures or a provision set forth by the employee's Division or department.

- The employee is incompetent, inefficient, and unprofessional in demonstrated work performance of their assigned job duties.

- The employee has made a false statement of material fact in connection with the employee's job, including falsification of City records.

Hogan, who has an extensive criminal history, was hired in 2006 as part of the city's "Second Chance" program, meant to provide employment to ex-felons.

In the past, Hogan has been charged with more than a dozen crimes, including identity theft, theft of property, forgery, passing bad checks and aggravated burglary.

Employee records also show where Hogan received a written reprimand from Animal Services Administrator Matthew Pepper in 2010 for failing to appear in court on a dog-bite case.

Meanwhile, we're told Hogan has been suspended with pay pending the outcome of the investigation into Kapone's disappearance.

Case Updates

Kapone, a dog that's been missing for nearly 6 months, has been found in a backyard in Senatobia, Mississippi, where he was likely being used for breeding purposes.

The pit bull got loose from his family's Cordova yard on June 24, and was last seen being picked up by animal control officer, Demetria Hogan.

Hogan was later arrested and charged with Animal Cruelty and then fired from the Memphis Animal Shelter.

Kapone's disappearance brought the spotlight back on the troubled Memphis Animal Shelter, and prompted an audit by the Memphis Rotary Club.

An $8,000 reward was offered for information leading to Kapone's rescue. The unidentified tipster that alerted authorities to his whereabouts turned down that reward.

Kapone was reunited with his family in Senatobia on Tuesday afternoon.

The homeowners were not at their home on the 100 block of Peachtree Dr. when Kapone was found, and police are not sure if they were aware that they were harboring a stolen dog.
Source: myfoxmemphis.com - Dec 20, 2011
Update posted on Dec 20, 2011 - 10:17PM 
Demetria Hogan appeared in court on Monday at a preliminary hearing regarding two counts of Animal Cruelty and an animal that died en-route to the shelter.

The former Memphis Animal Control officer was first arrested on July 13.

Police say on June 24 she picked up two loose dogs in the Cordova area, but never checked them into the Animal Shelter.

One of the dogs, a pit bull named Kapone, is still missing.

In July, Hogan was fired from the Memphis Animal Shelter and arrested on two counts of animal cruelty. One of those counts was found to have Insufficient Probable Cause. The issue of the animal that died en-route to the shelter was also found not to have met the burden of proof.

Five witnesses were called by prosecution. All were workers at the shelter, one of which was a first responder to the original call.

Despite not finding the burden of proof on two of the incidents, all will be presented when Hogan goes before a Grand Jury.
Source: myfoxmemphis.com - Nov 21. 2011
Update posted on Nov 22, 2011 - 9:14PM 
A Memphis pet owner says a former Memphis Animal Services worker, already charged with animal cruelty, killed her dog.

As Memphis police investigate the death of Max, a nine-year-old lab mix, a veterinarian has ruled that heat stroke is what caused the animal's death while he was in the care of animal control officer Demetria Hogan.

Hogan was recently fired from the shelter in connection to the case of missing dog - Kapone.

"I felt that woman killed my dog due to her neglect," said Max's owner, Martha Mitchum.

Hogan was sent to Hillshire to pick up Max on July 12, after a call came in as an injured dog hit by a car.

However, investigators say Hogan didn't return the dog to the shelter for more than two hours. When Hogan did arrive, Max was found dead in the back of her truck.

Dr. Rebecca Coleman determined the dog was not killed as a result of injuries from being hit by a car.

"I feel that if she arrived at the scene at the time she claims she did, and picked up my dog and taken him back to the shelter right away, I think he'd still be alive here today," she said.

According to the necropsy report, Max died as a result of heat stroke. The manner of death was accidental, and there was also no evidence of trauma. Coleman also concluded in the report, "the lack of physical injury is inconsistent with a history of injury caused by a vehicular encounter."

Meanwhile, Memphis police are still investigating Max's death.

"We've been told we could pursue some kind of civil case against her, but at this point we're not quite sure what we're going to do," Mitchum said.

There is currently a $11,000 reward for information leading to the safe return of Kapone, the missing pit bull that vanished while in Hogan's care in June.
Source: wmctv.com - Jul 20, 2011
Update posted on Aug 8, 2011 - 4:45PM 
The city fired Memphis Animal Shelter employee Demetria Hogan, who is involved in a missing dog case and faces charges of animal cruelty.

"She had a fact-finding hearing late Friday afternoon, and her employment was terminated," said city spokeswoman Mary Cashiola.

Hogan is charged with two counts of animal cruelty. The first involves 11-year-old male pit bull Kapone, a family pet that went missing after Hogan picked up the dog along with a 3-year-old female pit bull.

The dogs had escaped from their Cordova backyard June 24. The younger dog arrived at the shelter and was picked up by its owners the next morning, but security tapes showed no signs that Kapone was checked in to the shelter.

The second cruelty count against Hogan involved an incident last week in which a dog was struck by a car. Hogan was called to pick up the dog, but by the time she made it back to the shelter the dog had died. Investigators are looking into the possibility Hogan delayed returning to the shelter for fear she would be met by police and arrested for failing to turn herself in on the earlier animal cruelty case.

A reward for the missing pit bull grew Thursday to $8,000, with the addition of a $2,000 donation from People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.

Hogan, a felon with an extensive record, had an initial court hearing last week on the two animal cruelty charges. Her attorney said Hogan is a "scapegoat" for long-running problems at the shelter.
Source: commercialappeal.com - Jul 18, 2011
Update posted on Jul 18, 2011 - 6:42PM 
The woman at the center of the latest Memphis Animal Shelter issue refused to break her silence today. Demetria Hogan is accused of animal cruelty in connection with the disappearance of a dog named Kapone.

Demetria Hogan was running late again, this time for a General Sessions Court appearance. But 35 minutes later, in a camera-lit frenzied grand entrance at the Criminal Justice Center, the suspended Memphis Animal Control officer coolly sashayed into court minus explanation as to what took her so long.

Yet, her stay would be a brief one. She was informed by Judge Karen Massey that her case, which includes two counts of animal cruelty, had been moved to environmental court and slated for July 25th. With a kind of "been there, done that" look, the former convicted felon silently emerged from the CJC, leaving attorney Erika Eubanks to declare her client's innocence.

"The city has been having issues at the Animal Shelter for sometime now and this is just another situation where they blame the problems on the employees," she said. "My client did not do this."

Yet, while Hogan appeared to be bemused by the attention, no one's laughing at the seriousness of her alleged actions that have cast another dark shadow over operations at the much maligned Animal Shelter.

A reward of $5,000 is being offered for the return of 11-year old missing pit bull Kapone. Hogan admits picking up the dog while on duty, but has not made public his whereabouts. It's the apparent callousness of Hogan's alleged actions which even has Memphis Mayor A C Wharton openly lamenting about financially constricted hiring practices at the Shelter.

"I wish we could pay more people," said Wharton. "I wish we could be so selective that we could do a background check and just make sure that everybody has a demonstrated record of having loved animals."

On Wednesday, Wharton declared the administration would again look at the whole operation at the Shelter. But, he also gave a ringing endorsement to the embattled Director, Matthew Pepper.

"Matthew Pepper is doing the best he can under some horrible circumstances," he said. "You wouldn't believe that the threats and all that have been directed against him."

Meanwhile, Demetria Hogan, who is still suspended with pay, gave cameras one last opportunity before heading off to her next appointment. We hope she wasn't too late.
Source: myfoxmemphis.com - Jul 14, 2011
Update posted on Jul 14, 2011 - 9:07PM 
While Memphis Mayor A C Wharton believes everyone deserves a second chance, animal activists say people who've demonstrated violence against people should not work with animals.

Demetria Hogan was given a badge to protect and serve the animals of Memphis. Now, she is charged with the very crimes she enforced.

Wednesday, Memphis Mayor A C Wharton said the city's taking her arrest very seriously.

"We're working on it and we're going to push it all the way through," he said.

Not only is a Pit Bull Hogan picked up still missing, but the city confirms that while police were searching for Hogan on the animal cruelty charge, the dog she had in her animal control truck died.

When Action News 5 spoke to Mayor Wharton on Wednesday, he wasn't aware of the dead dog.

"I'm not going to blow smoke," he said. "I haven't been briefed on that. We'll get answers to that."

The previous mayor's office placed Hogan in Animal Services as part of the Second Chance Program to employ ex-felons.

In the past, Hogan has been charged with more than a dozen crimes, including identity theft, theft of property, forgery, passing bad checks and aggravated burglary.

Wharton said his religion teaches second chances.

"It's a case by case (situation), and I've never judged one of the Second Chance applicants," he said.

Hogan was promoted to supervisor in 2009, two months after Mayor Wharton took office.

"I'd have to go back and look at all the circumstances how that recommendation was made," Wharton said. "I don't know her personally. I'm sure someone felt that she merited that."

Wharton has fired or indicted about a dozen Animal Shelter employees since taking office. Many of their jobs are protected under the Civil Service guidelines.

Wharton, a former trial attorney, says he has to be very careful when weeding people out.

"The worst thing in the world would be to start having people fired only to have it reversed by the Civil Service Commission," he said. "So it may be slow, but it's done right."

Hogan is currently suing a Memphis Animal Services Advisory Board member, claiming emotional distress because the board member made comments about Hogan's criminal past at board meetings.
Source: wmctv.com - Jul 13, 2011
Update posted on Jul 13, 2011 - 8:03PM 

References

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