Beaufort man charged with leaving ‘shivering’ dog in car during weekend cold snap
A mother’s initial report of an attempted vehicle break-in led to her son’s arrest for allegedly leaving a puppy in his car during the weekend’s biting cold temperatures, according to the Beaufort County Sheriff’s Office.
The suspect, a 41-year-old Beaufort resident, was booked into the Beaufort County jail Friday night on charges of cocaine possession and ill treatment of animals, both misdemeanors. He remained in custody as of Wednesday afternoon on cash bonds totaling $15,000, inmate records show.
The man’s mother called deputies around 8 p.m. Friday to the Magnolia Park apartments, located off Laurel Bay Road in the Beaufort area. She told police three men had appeared to be attempting to break into her son’s Honda sedan that was parked outside, according to the incident report.
Inside the Honda, deputies noted a small white puppy was sitting in the driver’s seat “shivering,” with a “significant amount of feces” on the passenger’s seat. One side window and the sunroof were partially open, the report said. There was no food or water inside the car, which was missing a front tire and appeared to be “dilapidated and immobile,” a deputy wrote.
Noting the temperature was 36 degrees Fahrenheit at the time, police determined “the dog could not feasibly survive overnight without severe suffering,” the report says.
The man’s mother told police she wasn’t aware the dog was inside the vehicle and that her son had owned the puppy for two to three months, according to the incident report. Speaking to her son over the phone, she relayed his message to police that he would retrieve the animal soon and to “leave (the dog) alone.”
While waiting for the man to arrive, the report says, three men approached from an apartment building whom the mother identified to police as those involved in the alleged attempted car-break in, the report says.
The men told police they had noticed the dog inside the vehicle “appearing to suffer due to the cold” and tried to get the dog out to help it, according to the incident report. Deputies determined they had not committed a crime and chose not to detain the men or question them further. The suspect arrived just as police began considering using their tools to set the dog free, the report says. Searching him before his arrest, deputies allegedly found a small bag of white powder in his pants pocket that tested positive for cocaine.
Animal control officers assumed custody of the dog and transported it to the local animal shelter, where it would receive a veterinary evaluation, according to the incident report.
Answering deputies’ questions from the back of a patrol car, the suspect said he “provides shelter for the dog” but leaves it inside the vehicle while at work, the report says.
Under South Carolina law, the man’s misdemeanor charge for ill treatment of animals is punishable by up to 90 days in prison or a fine between $100 and $1,000.
The Island Packet and Beaufort Gazette do not publish the names of individuals who were charged with misdemeanor crimes unless the accused is a public figure or if revealing their name is a matter of public interest.
This story was originally published February 4, 2026 at 1:21 PM.
