Four Connellsville-area men are accused of stealing a Pygmy goat, killing it and trading its meat for crack cocaine.
Charles W. Smith, 48, and Charles W. Smith Jr., 20, both of 334 Breakiron Road; James Walter Albright, 37, of 291 Swink Road; and Gilbert Wesley Fisch, 38, of 270 Rear Dry Hill Lane, were charged by state police at Uniontown for their alleged roles in stealing the 4-year-old goat.
Police said charges of theft, receiving stolen property, cruelty to animals and criminal conspiracy were filed Tuesday with Bullskin Township District Judge Robert Breakiron.
The quartet allegedly took the goat the morning of Dec. 24 from Laura and Robert Locke's property on Englishman Hill Road in Bullskin Township.
Police said Albright removed the goat from a pen with a piece of rope, dragged it to a patch of woods and tied it to a shrub.
Albright and Charles Smith Jr. allegedly beat the animal to death by striking it on the head with a hammer and/or a steel pipe.
Police said the goat was taken to the Smith residence where it was skinned by Fisch and the elder Smith. According to witnesses, the meat was traded to a local drug dealer for crack cocaine.
