HERE NEWS
Lexington, SC 03/19/2024 (Paul Kirby) – A 44-year-old Lexington County man has been booked into the detention center and charged with Ill Treatment of Animals and Torture of a cat.
Jon Eric Creech was booked on Friday, March 15, 2023, in Lexington. This case was investigated by Lexington County Animal Control and took a little over a year to prepare for prosecution. During that year, there were issues about exactly where Creech could be found.
Investigation Details
Investigators appear to have also been lied to about what gun was used to shoot the cat. Creech originally turned over a BB gun under the guise that it was the gun he thought the cat may have been injured by that. When a veterinarian x-rayed and then performed surgery on the cat, they removed some small fragments for it head and body. The fragments were sent to SLED for testing, and they concluded that a BB would not fragment in such a way.
Senior investigators with the Lexington County Sheriff’s Department felt the cat had been shot with a shotgun that fired lead shot. After Creech offered to take a polygraph test several times and made appointments to do so, he found excuses not to make those appointment each time.
Arrest and Charges
After spending hours of the case, the Lexington County Animal Control officer and the Sheriff’s Department investigator presented their evidence against to a judge. The judge signed a warrant after listening to all the facts. Creech was booked last Friday. Jail records indicate that he was no longer in jail Monday at noon. All suspects are innocent until convicted by a jury of law.