After his father's last day as Richmond County school superintendent, Charles Derrick Larke was caught with two other people breaking the law, police and animal control officials said Friday.
He was still being sought Friday afternoon on a warrant charging him with felony dogfighting, the Richmond County Sheriff's Office said.
Augusta Animal Services Director Randy Teasley said a sheriff's deputy found that Mr. Larke and the other youths had organized a dogfight with several pit bulls at Regency Mall on Gordon Highway.
All of the dogs were injured, one somewhat seriously, Mr. Teasley said.
Initially, Mr. Larke and the others were cited for misdemeanor cruelty charges, but the animal control director said he decided to pursue the felony charges through the sheriff's office because of the severity of the dogs' injuries.
"I am not going to tolerate dog fighting in Richmond County," Mr. Teasley said. "It's cruel. It's inhumane. And it leads to gambling and drugs."
Dog fighting is punishable by a fine of $5,000 and one to five years in prison.
The maximum punishment for the misdemeanor charges is 60 days in the county jail system.
One of the youths was a teenager and was not cited; the other gave false information and officials are still trying to track him down, Mr. Teasley said.
The incident is not Mr. Larke's first run-in with the law. In 2004, he was accused of making a false report of a crime and entering an automobile to commit theft.
The same day that he was sentenced to probation on that charge, he was arrested for taking DVDs from the Deans Bridge Road Wal-Mart Supercenter. He was sentenced to a year in confinement, but it was reduced to probation.
Reach Jeremy Craig at (706) 823-3409 or jeremy.craig@augustachronicle.com.
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