State won't prosecute OBS official accused of taking PETA investigator's backpack
The Ocala Breeders' Sales Co. official who was arrested on a robbery charge after being accused of taking an activist's backpack won't face criminal prosecution, the State Attorney's Office has announced.
In a court filing explaining the decision, the prosecutor's office said: "Based on the facts and circumstances of this case and a review of the available evidence, the state is announcing a no information as to the charge in this case."
On April 10, a PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) investigator was in the grandstand recording the OBS' 2-year-old under-tack show. At one point a horse was injured.
The investigator was recording when the horse had to be put down, according to an Ocala Police Department report. The report states there were curtains to prevent people from seeing what was happening.
The investigator went to a spot that was open to the public and continued recording. A golf cart with two men appeared. They told the investigator to leave, the report mentions.
The investigator tried to comply. As he was leaving, the investigator said, the men told him to give him the camera and he wasn't free to leave. The investigator alleged one man removed his backpack.
Police officials showed him a photo lineup and he identified Tod Thomas Wojciechowski as the man who took his backpack. However, the PETA investigator also said that he recognized Wojciechowski from prior pictures he had seen. His backpack was later returned to him, police said.
Wojciechowski, who is director of sales at OBS, was arrested.
PETA statement
Kathy Guillermo, senior vice president of PETA, said her organization is aware that the state is not pursuing a prosecution.
In a prepared statement, Guillermo said: "Wojciechowski’s arrest and humiliating mugshot are perhaps enough to give him second thoughts about stealing other people’s property, but our goal was and is only to stop the deaths of these vulnerable young thoroughbreds on the Ocala Breeders’ Sale track and to expose the damage and abuse they endure, which is far worse than the theft of a backpack."
PETA officials have filed a complaint urging prosecutors to pursue criminal charges against those who they feel is responsible for the death of the horse on the day of the incident involving their investigator.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala Florida prosecutors drop case against horse organization official
