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Animal Abandonment Charges Dropped Against Former Century Fireman

Charges against a former Century fireman accused of abandoning three dogs have been dropped after he successfully completed a pretrial diversion program.

Dustin Ryan Burkett, 29, was charged with three misdemeanor counts of abandonment of animals and obstruction of justice after allegedly abandoning three dogs that were reported to be rescued by the Century Station of Escambia Fire Rescue in August 2010.

The Century Station of Escambia-Rescue responded to a reported motor vehicle accident on Sunday, August 22, 2010, on North Century Boulevard just south of Tedder Road. They discovered that there was no accident; rather, a motorist had stopped after seeing the three dogs nearly in the road. Both the fire department and the Sheriff’s Office requested that Escambia County Animal Control respond, but the agency refused stating that it did not meet their call-out criteria.

Rather than leave the dogs beside the road, they were taken back to the Century firehouse as firefighters worked to determine what to do with the canines. According to the Escambia County Sheriff’s Office incident report, the Burkett told his follow firefighters to, “Put them in my truck. I have a pen at my house”.

A Century Volunteer Fire Department officer emailed NorthEscambia.com that night, providing photographs of the dogs and asking for help in find the dogs’ owner. NorthEscambia.com published that story Monday, August 23.

After the article was published on NorthEscambia.com, the dogs’ owner contacted the fire department. According to the ECSO, the owner confronted Burkett at the Century fire station the next evening and asked the whereabouts of his dogs. Burkett according to the incident report, “refused to respond and acted like he didn’t know what (the victim) was talking about”.

The dogs’ owner then went to the Burkett’s residence on Highway 4A and spoke with the suspect’s father. The father was helpful but said that he did not see the dogs or know where his son had put them, the victim told deputies.

Burkett told a fire department officer that he had found a good home for the dogs in Walnut Hill, and the officer contacted NorthEscambia.com with the information.  Based on that information from the fire department, a followup story was published by NorthEscambia.com on Thursday, August 26, reporting that  a home had been found for the dogs.

Deputies met with both Burkett and his father. Burkett told deputies, according to their report, that he had given the dogs to a man he met. He told a deputy that he did not know how to contact the man and that the deputy should call his friend. The friend told the deputy by phone that “he did not want to be involved and that he was not going to tell a lie to keep (the suspect) out of trouble”. He said that Burkett contacted him Sunday night and “asked him to cover for him if asked the whereabouts of the missing dogs”. The friend told the deputy that Burkett told him that he took the dogs and dropped them off at the intersection of North Pine Barren Road and Highway 168.

When contacted by phone, the deputy said Burkett admitted to putting the dogs out of his vehicle on Pine Barren Road on Wednesday. About 30 minutes later, Burkett called the suspect again to advise him that he was going to face charges over the dogs. “He advised me that he didn’t kill them or sell them and that he put them out on Sunday,” Deputy David Bashore wrote in his report.

The dogs were found a few days later on Highway 4, not far from Northview High School. They were  determined to be in good condition by a veterinarian and returned the owner.

Burkett was subsequently suspended from Escambia Fire Rescue.

In March 2011, Burkett entered into a plea agreement in an unrelated case on one count of child abuse, and the state dropped a charge of lewd and lascivious battery on a victim 12 to 15 years of age.

Burkett was arrested in September, 2010,  in connection with a 2009 incident in which a 15-year old girl told deputies she had intercourse with Burkett at Lake Stone Campground in Century. The encounter, the victim told deputies, took place on or about March 28, 2009.

According to the State Attorney’s Office, Burkett was sentenced to five years probation on a felony child abuse charge. He was not be required to register as a sex offender, but he was required to attend counseling, the State Attorney’s Office said.

Pictured top:  Former Century firefighter Dustin Ryan Burkett. Pictured top inset: These cellphone photos show three dogs found the evening of August 22 on North Century Boulevard just south of Tedder Road. The firefighter partially in the photograph is not suspected of any wrongdoing. Photos for NorthEscambia.com, click to enlarge.