Darren Patterson

Name:
Patterson, Darren Lee

Date of Booking:
02/18/2026

Reason(s) For Booking:
Cruelty to Animals – 8 Counts

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.]

On January 14, 2026, I, Animal Control Officer H. Trischan and Animal Control Trainee Halpin were dispatched to [100 BLOCK] Sonja Drive in reference to animals being left in a house in disrepair. I made contact with the owner at 1239 hours and arrived on scene at 1308 hours.

The original call we received was in reference to 8 dogs and a ferret being left in the residence with feces all over inside the residence and that the lights were off. The complainant refused contact and there was not a callback number to attempt contact with. I then made contact with the owner of the residence, Mr. Darren Patterson at 0943 hours. The original call came in at 0938 hours. I advised Mr. Patterson to make contact with me when he was able to meet to do a welfare check regarding his dogs at [100 BLOCK] Sonja Drive.

At 1308 hours, same date, we made contact with Mr. Patterson. Mr. Patterson advised that he has been staying at [100 BLOCK] Cheshire Drive after his wife passed away on January 2, 2026. Mr. Patterson and his daughter have been coming to [100 BLOCK] Sonja Drive to take care of the animals. Mr. Patterson did show us two of the dogs, a 14 year old male terrier mix and a younger chocolate lab. The terrier mix was missing a little bit of hair on it’s back but other than that both dogs were relatively healthy and did not show any cause to be concerned. Mr. Patterson did mention puppies and asked if he could sign them over due to them being taken in prior to his wife passing. I advised that we could not take in the puppies and the puppies were not brought up again. Mr. Patterson was very adimate about bringing the dogs out instead of letting us in the residence to look at all the animals.

Due to the previous call notes and the hesitancy of Mr. Patterson regarding the inside of his home and the remarks of him advising the house was “messy”, I asked for Warner Robins Code Enforcement to be enroute to our location. When Mr. Patterson put his dog back inside the residence and he would open the screen door, I noticed mountains of junk and scraps.

Shortly after, Code Enforcement Officer Clarence Wesley arrived on scene. Officer Wesley convinced Mr. Patterson to let him take photos but was only able to take photos of the carport as Mr. Patterson would not let him inside of the residence entirely. Mr. Patterson mentioned renting a dumpster and admitted that his wife was a hoarder multiple times but he claimed he did not realize it was out of control. I asked Officer Wesley to email me the photos he took of the carport and they will be attached to this report. Code Enforcement will also be doing their own investigation as well.

[End of Narrative]