UPDATE: County prosecutor explains why charges against 3 local men who put cats into trash compactor have been dropped
2:30 P.M.UPDATE: Elkhart County Prosecutor Vicki Elaine Becker announced the formal charges against three former Jayco employees filed earlier this week, stemming from alleged animal cruelty at Jayco, have been dismissed due to the need for further investigation and clarification of facts and circumstances documented during the investigation.
Becker says a scrivener's error, which was found in the Probable Cause Affidavit filed in support of the original charges, provoked additional investigative questions.
The county prosecutor says that error attributed a statement to Devon Miller as follows:
"Ptl. Yutzy spoke with Devon Miller, the vice president of operation at Jayco, who indicated the men acted in the company's best interest by placing the live cats into the trash compactor."
Becker says the phrase is not accurate and there is "no evidence documented in the police investigation to suggest that Mr. Miller endorsed, or approved of, the decisions or the behaviors of the three employees."
Once the prosecutor's office was notified of the discrepancy, officials made further inquiries regarding the facts and circumstances of the allegations.
The prosecuting attorney is "awaiting the results of that additional investigation, which has impacted the veracity of the original charging decision."
Becker says a Motion to Dismiss each case was filed before anyone’s liberty was affected by an arrest.
Officials say until the additional information can be meaningfully considered, any amended charging decision will not be made.
The county prosecutor's office added no interviews will be afforded at this time as they await further evidence before any additional official actions will be undertaken.
ORIGINAL: ELKHART COUNTY, Ind. -- On Thursday, a Motion to Dismissed was filed in the cases against three former Jayco RV Manufacturing employees who admitted to putting two live cats into a trash compactor at Jayco back in February.
On Friday morning, Elkhart County officially dismissed the charges of Level 6 Felony Torturing or Mutilating a Vertebrate Animal def. knowingly tortures or mutilates a (Aiding, Inducing, or Causing an Offense) against 29-year-old Travis McKay, 31-year-old Arlin J. Hochstetler, and 44-year-old John H. Lipscomb.
"We are outraged that criminal charges were dropped in the JAYCO RV animal cruelty case," said Meow Mission President Jodi Aker. "What a slap in the face to animal cruelty laws on the books in the state of Indiana that constituents have fought hard for.
"The three individuals charged in this case admitted to knowingly attempting to mutilate these two live cats with a trash compactor when they taped the box shut and put them in. We want answers and we want justice. Violence against animals is inhumane. It is dangerous. And it is indicative of a much bigger problem in our society. Animal cruelty laws need to be enforced. They need to be taken seriously and our community needs to see it in action. The legal system in Indiana failed all of us today across the state who dedicate our lives to the protection of animals as well as its own constituents who own pets. If these cats' lives are not valued or protected in the state of Indiana, then not one animal owned by an individual is either."
ABC57 has reached out to the Elkhart County Prosecutor's Office for more details and this article will be updated when more information is released.