Arkansas: Psychopaths Joshua Rewis, Cody Jones and Travis Strickland, who tortured and beat deer while filming and laughing quietly agree to pay fines

ARKANSAS -- The case of three Georgia men involved in beating a deer inside a car in January was settled Thursday in Stuttgart District Court, where all three were fined for their actions.

Joshua Rewis, 20, of Villa Rica, Ga.; Cody Jones, 25, of Carrollton, Ga.; and Travis Strickland, 25, of Winston, Ga., were arrested after an Arkansas Game and Fish Commission investigation into a video that showed a deer being beaten in the head with a heavy textbook in the back seat of a compact car as the vehicle traveled on U.S. 165 near Stuttgart.

The Jan. 26 incident drew national attention after the video appeared on social media networks Snapchat and Facebook and eventually came to the attention of the Game and Fish Commission.

The three men were passengers in a yellow Ford Escort when it struck the deer, and the men loaded the stunned and injured animal into the car, according to game and fish officials.

WARNING - VIDEO IS DISTRESSING:

The deer revived in the car, and the video shows one of the men repeatedly striking the animal on the head with the textbook. The car pulled over eventually, and the men dragged the deer into a ditch along the highway and left it, game and fish officials said.

I don't believe this for one minute. A stunned deer is thought to be dead and loaded into a car? 

Officials identified Rewis as the man who hit the deer with the textbook. He pleaded guilty to cruelty to animals and with wasting wildlife.

Stuttgart District Judge Jeremy Bueker ordered Rewis to pay $1,000, which included $140 in court costs, on the cruelty charge. For wasting wildlife, Rewis received a $1,250 fine and was ordered to undergo a psychiatric evaluation within 90 days.

Rewis also was sentenced to 60 days in jail with 60 days suspended, provided that he incurs no criminal violations over the next year.

Jones and Strickland were each charged with aiding and abetting.

Rewis and Strickland returned to Arkansas for disposition of their cases. Jones did not appear and instead chose to forfeit his $370 fine. Strickland's charge was amended to a civil penalty, and he was ordered to pay a $370 fine.

A fourth person involved in the incident -- driver Johnna Sigler, 19, of Stuttgart -- was issued a warning citation and was never charged.

"Under the circumstances, it's probably the best disposition for us," said Keith Stephens, spokesman for the Game and Fish Commission. "That's not Arkansas values, especially for the hunting public, to do something like that.

"Maybe they'll think about it before they do something like this again."

(NWA Online - April 30, 2016)

Earlier:

• Arkansas: Video showing men laughing and beating hog-tied deer in their car with a textbook
• Arkansas: Joshua Rewis, 20, charged with animal cruelty for torturing poor deer in video
• Arkansas: Georgia men plead not guilty to laughing while beating poor deer in video posted online

Arkansas: Georgia men plead not guilty to laughing while beating poor deer in video posted online

ARKANSAS -- The three Georgia men accused of violently beating a deer with a text book pleaded innocent this week.

ArkansasOnline.com reports Joshua Rewis, 20, Cody Jones, 25, and Travis Strickland, 25, pleaded innocent in an Arkansas district court.

Arkansas authorities arrested the men last month in connection with a video of a deer being beaten with a textbook. That video was posted on social media and went viral. That's when the two-state investigation began.

The Georgia Department of Natural Resources contacted the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission on Jan. 28. The investigation revealed that the video was made in Arkansas and showed Joshua Rewis, striking a deer with a heavy textbook in the back of a vehicle.

Rewis told officers that the deer was struck on U.S. Highway 165 near Stuttgart. Rewis said that he, Cody Jones, 25, and Travis Strickland, 25, were traveling in a car driven by Johnna Sigler, 19, of Stuttgart, when the deer was hit.

After striking the deer, the group pulled over and the three men loaded the live deer into the vehicle.  Rewis told officers that he planned to tag the deer and clean it. Rewis never contacted the AGFC about the deer so that it could be put down. The group also did not contact the Arkansas County Sheriff’s Office to report the accident.

WARNING - VIDEO IS DISTRESSING:

As the group was driving down the road, the deer became active in the vehicle. That is when Rewis began striking the deer with the book. After the deer began crying out, the group pulled over and the men dragged the deer to a ditch along the highway and left it.

This is the biggest bunch of BS I've read in a long time. They are lying. They did not THINK the deer was dead. They either hit it or found it - very much alive - and threw it in the back of their vehicle so they could torture it to death. 

Rewis was charged with cruelty to animals and wasting wildlife. Jones and Strickland were charged with criminal aiding and abetting. Sigler was issued a warning citation for aiding and abetting.

(WTSP - Feb 19, 2016)

Earlier:

• Arkansas: Video showing men laughing and beating hog-tied deer in their car with a textbook
• Arkansas: Joshua Rewis, 20, charged with animal cruelty for torturing poor deer in video

Arkansas: Joshua Rewis, 20, charged with animal cruelty for torturing poor deer in video

ARKANSAS -- In the video, widely circulated on Facebook, a man from Georgia looks into the camera, then strikes a deer with a large, hardcover textbook.

Everyone laughs.

Despite the deer's cries, the man hits the deer four more times before the recording stops.

Now that man and two others who are also from Georgia face multiple charges, the Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officials said.

"These individuals have to pay the consequences of this horrendous incident," Col. Todd Callaway, the commission's enforcement chief, said in a statement.

The investigation began Jan. 28, when the Georgia Department of Natural Resources contacted officials in Arkansas.

That investigation, the commission said in the statement, led them to Joshua Rewis, 20, of Villa Rica. He is the man seen in the video beating the deer in the back of a vehicle, officials said.

According to the statement, Rewis told officers he, Cody Jones, 25, of Carrollton, and Travis Strickland, 25, of Winston, were traveling in a car driven by Johnna Sigler, 19, of Stuttgart, Arkansas, when the deer was hit on U.S. Highway 165 near Stuttgart.

The group did not contact the Arkansas County Sheriff's Office to report the accident, the commission said. Instead, they pulled over and the three men loaded the live deer into the vehicle. Rewis told officers he planned to tag the deer and clean it.

I don't believe for one minute that they "thought" it was dead. I think it was injured and couldn't run away and they stuffed it in the car to torture it for their enjoyment.

WARNING - VIDEO IS DISTRESSING:

Inside the vehicle, the deer became active. That, officials said, is when Rewis began striking the deer with the book.

"After the deer began crying out," the commission said, "the group pulled over and the men dragged the deer to a ditch along the highway and left it."

That's according to them. Why should we believe anything they say? How do we know they didn't take the poor animal home and continue torturing it until they finally killed it???

Rewis was charged with cruelty to animals and wasting wildlife. Bond for each charge is $1,140 and $2,640, respectively.

Jones and Strickland were charged with criminal aiding and abetting. Sigler was issued a warning citation for aiding and abetting.

“These officers did an excellent job on this high profile case. They turned this investigation around in about a week and now these individuals have to pay the consequences of this horrendous incident,” Col. Todd Callaway, AGFC Chief of Enforcement said about the wildlife officers as part of the release.

(WFTV - Feb 5, 2016)

Earlier:

• Arkansas: Video showing men laughing and beating hog-tied deer in their car with a textbook

Arkansas: Video showing men laughing and beating hog-tied deer in their car with a textbook

ARKANSAS -- Arkansas Game and Fish Commission officers say they're investigating a video being circulated on Facebook that purportedly shows a deer tied up in the back of an SUV being repeatedly beaten in the face with a textbook while it cries out in terror and pain.

 

In the video, the men are laughing while the animal struggles and cries out in pain and distress.

Someone alerted The Exposed, who posted the video, which was posted on Snapchat.

Officers said Friday they believe the video was made in Arkansas by three Georgia residents and one Arkansas resident. Agents say they've questioned one of the individuals and plan to get statements from the other three within the next two days.

The investigation began after agents were contacted by the Georgia Department of Natural Resources.

According to the Arkansas Times, one of the men told police that the deer had been "hit by a car" and that they'd put it into the back of their car. Suddenly, they say the deer "regained consciousness" and so they apparently decided it would be funny to repeatedly beat it in the face with a heavy college textbook while they all laughed about it. 

"It was disgusting. That's not reflective of Arkansas values, especially outdoorsmen and hunters. It was hard to watch," said Keith Stephens, with Arkansas Game and Fish.

The agency says the person seen beating the deer could be charged with a misdemeanor, fined up to $1,000 and get up to a year in jail under the state's criminal animal cruelty law.

The other three could face aiding and abetting criminal violations, which carry fines $250.

WARNING - VIDEO IS DISTRESSING:

(Valdosta Daily Times - Jan 29, 2016)