Hampton sheriff ’s office lieutenant, husband face animal cruelty charges
HAMPTON — A sheriff ’s lieutenant and her husband were charged this week with mistreating several pit bulls on the couple’s Phoebus property.
Lt. Carolyn Johnson, 58, of Ireland Street — a 24-year veteran of the Hampton Sheriff ’s Office — was charged with 16 misdemeanor charges, including eight counts of failing to provide adequate care to the couple’s dogs and eight counts of animal cruelty.
The charges come two days after her husband’s arrest in the same case.
Michael A. Johnson Sr., 59, faces three felony counts of promoting or being engaged in “the fighting of animals for amusement, sport or gain,” with the charges accusing him of having “a device or substance” on hand to enhance the dogs’ ability to fight or “inflict injury upon another animal.”
He also faces 17 misdemeanor counts — another dogfighting count, eight animal cruelty charges and eight counts of failing to adequately care for his dogs.
A law enforcement source said Carolyn Johnson holds a high-ranking post as the agency’s executive secretary, working closely with Hampton Sheriff Karen Bowden. The city’s human resources department said Johnson has been with the Sheriff ’s Office since February 1999.
Animal cruelty is a Class 1 misdemeanor, with each of the eight counts punishable by up to a year behind bars. Failing to provide adequate care to an animal is a Class 4 misdemeanor, with each of the eight counts punishable by up to $250 in fines.
Meanwhile, three of the dogfighting charges against Michael Johnson are felonies, each punishable by up to five years in prison, while the fourth is a Class 1 misdemeanor.
No one answered the door Wednesday at the couple’s home.
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 wrote.
Denney returned Tuesday morning 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.”
Denney wrote that he then got a second search warrant — this time for inside the house — and found documents and paraphernalia “associated with
the breeding and conditioning of fighting dogs.”
Jenrette 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.