Orange County DA Refuses to Prosecute Horse Theft Case

Orange County DA Refuses to Prosecute Horse Theft Case

02 July 2015

Penny changed to 72-300 resample.jpgOn August 21, 2001, I saw a blonde woman drive a small white station wagon onto the farm where I boarded my horse, Penny. I tried to get the woman’s attention, but she did not stop.  She turned her car around and left the farm. 

That night, Penny disappeared.  I checked the horses the next morning, and found the gate’s chain hanging on the fence.  The gate was closed, though, so I was not alarmed.  Then I realized Penny was not among the herd of horses.    

I searched the pasture.  I called the Orange County APS to ask if anyone had seen a loose horse.  Then I called the Sheriff’s Department and reported Penny as missing.  

A deputy came and took notes, examined the scene, and stated that it ‘looked like a case of horse rustling.’  He assigned a case number:  OCA 01-22533. 

The following days were a living nightmare. I posted flyers, contacted auctions, slaughterhouses, veterinarians, farriers, and stockyards.  I placed Penny’s picture and information on several stolen horse sites on the Internet. I was consumed by grief and unable to eat or sleep.  I was interviewed by WGHP Fox 8 News, and the Burlington Times-News ran a story about Penny’s theft (thanks to Stolen Horse International).  The Times-News story appeared on Saturday, August 25, 2001.  

The afternoon the story ran, I received word that Penny had been found.  I was given an address and was told that a deputy was already there. 

When I saw Penny, I flung my arms around her neck and cried.  Once I composed myself, the deputy examined my documents and pictures to verify Penny’s ownership. 

The deputy then introduced the woman sitting behind him as the person who took Penny.  It was the woman I’d seen driving through the farm!  My immediate reaction was ‘Arrest her!’  The deputy said that I might NOT be able to press charges.  An unbelievable story followed.   

The woman said that THREE YEARS AGO, she left a horse ‘who looked just like Penny’ at the farm.  She moved to Texas, and left no forwarding address or phone number with the person who was leasing the farm at that time. 

The woman then said that she had ‘forgotten’ the location of the farm where she’d left her horse.  She said she was driving around on August 21 when things ‘started looking familiar.’  She drove onto the farm and saw Penny.  

When she left the farm, she went to a local feed mill and asked for the name of someone who could transport a horse. That evening, she and the person with the trailer met, put Penny on the trailer, and drove away.  

The person who had transported my horse saw the newspaper story and notified the Sheriff’s Department.  

It is the opinion of Carl Fox, our District Attorney, that the woman showed ‘no criminal intent’ when she removed MY horse from the farm, since she ‘thought’ she was taking her horse.  It was of no interest to Mr. Fox that the horse the woman used to have, aside from being a Palomino, really looked nothing like Penny.  (The horse she abandoned had a wide blaze face and white stockings. Penny has neither.) 

It wasn’t relevant that she didn’t bother to talk with anyone at the farm about ‘her’ horse and waited until after everyone was gone that night to come and take Penny.  It didn’t matter that the woman ignored several ‘No Trespassing’ signs to come onto the farm.  The fact that the woman had been back in the area for eleven months before she decided to look for the horse she abandoned was of no importance.  That I could prove I’d owned Penny since she was 3 months old wasn’t a factor. 

According to Mr. Fox, no crime was committed against me. He refused to prosecute.  

What this experience taught me is that we horse owners must unite and watch out for each other.  We cannot be too vigilant.  Mr. Fox has set the precedent, and the message is loud and clear: You can steal a horse in Orange County and get away with it.  

Bonnie Booker

Mebane,NC

2001


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