A judge issued a warrant for an Aniwa man’s arrest Wednesday after he failed to show up in court for a scheduled plea hearing to resolve two criminal cases. The judge also ordered 37-year-old Randy Diels Jr.’s $5,000 signature bond be forfeited, court records said.
Diels and 44-year-old Kimberly Lawrence were both charged with 20 mostly misdemeanor counts of animal mistreatment, including four counts of “intentional dognapping or catnapping,” in November after deputies responded to a complaint of animal abuse. A felony count alleges mistreatment of a three-week old puppy so severe that it was euthanized because of its “deteriorated condition.”
Diels pleaded not guilty to those charges in January. That same month, Lawrence was placed on three years probation after being convicted of seven misdemeanors in a plea deal.
Investigators found 23 dogs, three cats and a pot-bellied pig living in unsafe conditions at their home, according to a 22-page criminal complaint. The animals were kept in wire kennels with blankets soaked with urine or covered in feces.
Lawrence, who described herself to deputies as a dog trainer, said four golden retrievers in the home were found by Diels and he found them loose on a road, the complaint said. The dogs were traced to a woman who lives nearby who said they “went missing three months ago.”
Diels is also facing separate charges for a felony count of participating in a burglary from last October. That was also supposed to be resolved during Wednesday plea hearing.
WSAU
