Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio is speaking out about the lawsuit filed by Senator Jeff Flake’s son Austin Flake and his wife Logan alleging that Arpaio sought animal cruelty charges against him to do political damage to his father. However, many believe that charges were not brought against the pair by Maricopa County Attorney Bill Montgomery for political reasons.
Arpaio issued a statement on Monday defending his office. “Maricopa County Sheriff’s Office took the investigation into last year’s untimely death of 21 dogs boarded at the Green Acres facility in Gilbert very seriously. We conducted a thorough and professional examination into the facts which caused the deaths of these pets,” stated Arpaio. “The investigation, when completed, led to the indictments of Todd and Maleisa Hughes as well as Austin and Logan Flake. My Office stands by this investigation and the work of our professional and dedicated animal crimes unit detectives. The allegation being made by Flake’s attorney that this investigation was in any way politically motivated is completely false.”
The lawsuit was filed late Friday by the younger Flake, who with his wife Logan, were present and supposed to be providing care for 21 dogs at the Green Acres kennel operated by Logan’s parents. Those dogs died of heat-exhaustion while Logan’s parents were out of town.
The in-laws initially said the animals died after one of the dogs chewed through a wire connected to an air conditioner. But an expert later determined the unit failed because it wasn’t properly maintained.
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The case against the young couple and the in-laws was dropped, but the in-laws were later indicted again and pleaded not guilty to animal cruelty counts.
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