Devone Articis Hall, 29 of Ridge
On Wednesday, October 11, 2017, deputies from the St. Mary’s County Sheriff’s Office responded to the 16000 block of Three Notch Rd. in Ridge, to attempt to serve an arrest warrant on Devone Articis Hall, 29 of Ridge.
Deputies observed Hall inside the residence however he refused to come out. A barricade was declared and members of the Emergency Services Team (EST) and Negotiators from the Critical Incident Negotiations Team (CINT) responded to the residence.
After approximately three hours Hall surrendered and was taken into custody without incident.
Hall was transported to the St. Mary’s County Rehabilitation and Detention Center where the warrant was served charging him with:
- Aggravated Animal Cruelty (4 Counts)
- Animal Cruelty (4 Counts)
- Unlawful Surgery on Dog (4 Counts)
- Restrain Dog – Unsafe/Unsanitary Conditions (1 Count)
On January 5, 2017, police responded to Bohle Road, in Mechanicsville, to assist Animal Control to check the welfare of several dogs on the property.
Upon arrival, police observed a female pit bull dog confined on a rear deck. The temperature was 32 degrees outside and the dog did not have shelter of any type. The food and water bowl were frozen over. On the same property located behind a detached shed was an approximate 10 feet by 10 feet fenced in pin containing four small pit bull puppies. Located in the enclosure was only one plastic dog house for shelter, no food, or water. The enclosure was filthy and covered in urine and feces.
While inspecting the puppies it was observed that all four puppies had “home ear cropping” done. All of the puppy’s ears were infected with open sores and one puppy had thread sticking out of his ears from what appeared to have been an attempt to stitch up the wound. One puppy also had obvious puss coming from an infection from the ear cropping.
Several attempts were made to make contact with the occupants of the residence, all were met with negative results.
Due to the weather and condition of the animals, all were seized by Animal Control
A notice was posted at the residence asking the animal’s owner to make contact with Animal Control.
An Animal Control Officer advised the owner, Devone Articis Hall had previously provided them with a false name, however they had made identification through an investigation of Hall, attempting to sell the puppies as well as locating one of the dogs purchased with evidence proving Hall had sold the puppy
Police were provided with the veterinary report which indicated all four puppies required surgery due to the severe ear infections from the ear mutilation/home ear cropping that was done to them.
