Written by: K. Bishop
Published April 6, 2023 @ 11:20 AM ET
Floyd County (February 8, 2023) – Police received complaints about several dogs that appeared to be dumped on Mango Road in Rome. Police told callers that animal control would not take them in due to the dogs being good-natured and non-aggressive.
On March 27, the owner of the dogs, Jeramiah Zechriah Flot, 26, was arrested and charged with abandoning them. One of the dogs was suffering from mange, and two others were heartworm positive.
According to reports, Flot kept the dogs tied up outside a camper at his Hasty Road home. Animal control officers had visited the home in the past due to complaints about the dogs and said Flot’s husband asked them for dog food and said he would drop the dogs off with a relative.
When the couple was issued a warning by animal control officers, Flot’s husband told them to “just take the dogs.” He insisted the dogs belonged to his husband and that he did not have time for the issues with the animals. The couple was also cited for illegal dumping, and officers found piles of trash around and behind the home.
When the dogs were found roaming in early March, the couple came to animal control to pick up one of the dogs but left rather than speaking with an officer. Warrants were issued for Flot’s arrest.
Police say Flot called 911 on March 27 during a fight at his home but denied making the call when officers arrived. Officers asked that dispatch call the number the 911 originally came from and confirmed the call came from Flot’s phone. They also confirmed there were warrants for Flot’s arrest.
Flot was arrested and charged with aggravated animal cruelty and abandonment of dogs.
Officer’s Narrative:
[Please note: The following is a direct transcription from the official initial incident report. The Georgia Gazette does not fix any spelling or grammatical errors that may exist. Any changes or redactions made by our staff are placed inside brackets. Some errors may exist. All subjects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law. The topics discussed may be sensitive to some readers. Discretion is advised.]
[NARRATIVE #1 on February 08, 2023]
On 02/08/2023 at approximately 1851 hours I was informed by [WITNESS #1] about a set of dogs that were possibly abandoned on Mango Road near Wayside Road in Floyd County.
[WITNESS #1] informed me that he located the dogs approximately 100 yards onto Mango Road. I told [WITNESS #1] since the dogs were not aggressive, on call Animal Control would not pick them up until morning. [WITNESS #1] provided me photo’s of the dogs.
In the photos there is a small white dogs with a black right eye, one all black long haired Sheppard type dog, one all brown medium sized dog, and one long haired brown and black dog. There was food in foil type containers. I then went to Facebook to search if anyone was trying to re-home the dogs. The only post that I located was someone else who came across asking if anyone had recognized the dogs.
[REDACTED], the Director over Animal Control informed me that one of the dog’s had a chip. The owner of he chipped dog informed an Animal Control officer that they re-homed the dog and it has not been in their possession for an extended period of time.
On 03/06/2023 Broughton and Flot went to Animal Control and spoke with [REDACTED] to try and take custody of a dog named “Haley.” When [REDACTED] informed both parties that they would have to speak with one of their officers. At this time, Broughton and Flot instantly left. Haley is a black and white mixed breed female dog who suffers from severe mange. Mange is a skin disease that is caused by mite that are found at the hair follicles. Mange causes redness, rash, itching, hair loss, sores and lesions, scabby crusty or scaly like skin.
On 03/08/2023 I went to [200 BLOCK] Hasty Road with Animal Control to make contact with Broughton and Flot. There were two dogs on scene, one tied to a tree and one that was roaming the yard. We were unable to make contact with any homeowners. From the roadway I observed a large amount trash near the rear of the house. There was an abundance of household trash, pieces of long hair, molded food, and bags filled with garbage leading down the small hill behind the home. There was a large, ripped mattress that was holding majority of the trash upright.
I took photos of the trash to conduct a follow-up. While speaking with Animal Control, a gentleman on a small motorbike pulled close to the house. I waved him down and asked if the couple drives, he informed me that they have a small car and if the car was not at home then they were not at home. I then asked him if knew of the couple owning any dogs; and he stated “at one point they had like 7.” I asked him where the dogs went and he informed me that “he just told me that he got rid of them.”
When leaving the scene Dispatch informed me that Rome City Police Department conducted a traffic stop on the vehicle Broughton and Flot were in at the Checkers on Turner McCall near Broad Street. I advised Dispatch that I would head that way to make contact with Broughton and Flot.
When I arrived on scene, Broughton and Flot were speaking with officers while a K-9 unit searched their vehicle. I issued Flot a citation for the illegal dumping and pulled Broughton to the side to ask about the dogs. Broughton informed me that they did not have the money to get the dogs from the animal shelter. Broughton stated that they did not dump the dogs that they must have ran away or got stolen from their yard.
Broughton looked at the photos that Animal Control had printed out and Broughton stated that some of the dogs belonged to them. When I attempted to ask Broughton if they had dumped the dogs they stated “Im not going to worry about that right now” before walking away.
[REDACTED] informed me that two of the dogs were also heart-worm positive. Heart-worms are a very serious disease that results in severe lung damage, heart failure, other organ damage and death in pets; mainly dogs. The two dogs that were heart worm positive were the all black long haired dog and the brown and black long haired dog.
[REDACTED] then provided me with body camera footage from her officers from 02/08/2023 at 1017 hours while on scene at Hasty Road in regards to a complaint about the dogs.
In the beginning of the body camera footage before the officer steps out of the vehicle I saw the long haired black dog in the bottom left corner near the trailer on the property before jumping through a window of the main house. While the officer gets out of the vehicle, there was a black dog with a white chest, an all brown dog (that matches the photo I was provided with from [WITNESS #1]) and an all white dog with a black eye (that matches the photo I was provided with from [WITNESS #1]). These three dogs were tethered out with collars.
The officers then began to speak with Broughton about proper shelter for the dogs, Broughton stated that they were going to “put them in the house” due to the rain. The officer then points and asks “is that one there yours?” in which Broughton stated “yeah” while shaking his head up and down in a yes motion. The officers then wrote a written warning to Broughton in regards to the dogs. Broughton then began to get defense stating that “write it to my husband cause those his dogs though.”
Flot then walked out of the camper to speak with the officers. Broughton then stated “you can go ahead and take them if thats the case” then stated “I don’t have time for that” and that he was “finna take them my moms house.” Broughton then asked the officer from his truck “do yall have dog food?” In which the officer replied “not right now but we should be getting some probably toward the end of the month.”
The officer then walks back to Broughton and Flot and in the right side of the camera I saw the brown and black long haired dog that I identified from the photos that [WITNESS #1] provided me tied out on a tree. Animal Control provided Flot and Broughton with their copy of the written warning and left the scene.
[REDACTED] informed [REDACTED] that she would be willing to type a statement and provide me a copy via email.
[End of Narrative]
[NARRATIVE #2 on March 27, 2023]
On 03/27/2023 I, PFC. Sangphim, responded to [200 BLOCK] Hasty Rd. Dispatch advised me that they had an open line call into 911 and they could hear someone saying “MALE SAYING GIVE ME MY MONEY AND MY PHONE” Dispatch said it sounded like multiple people fighting.
Upon arrival to the scene I made contact with 3 people in the backyard two males and one female. I asked the female to step over and speak with PFC. Lanier who was also on scene. I explained why I was there and everyone there denied calling 911. I had Dispatch check all three person’s present for warrants and asked that they call back the number that dialed 911.
Jeremiah Flot was one of the subjects present and his phone began ringing in his pocket. I began to ask him about what had happened. He denied calling 911 and then said he let another person that walked up to the house use his phone, but that person had since left. Everyone present was adamant that nothing physical had transpired between either party and I did not see any signs of recent injury to anyone present.
Dispatch then advised me that Mr. Flot had an active warrant for his arrest. I had dispatch confirm the warrant with the last four numbers of Mr. Flot’s social security number. Dispatch confirmed the warrant and I placed Mr. Flot under arrest and transport him to the Floyd County Jail. Upon admission into the jail Mr. Flot was cleared by medical personnel.
[End of Narrative]