Singer Jahiem charged with animal cruelty for the second time in 4 years

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3 days ago

R&B singer Jaheim was charged with six counts of animal cruelty and booked into a Georgia jail earlier this month, according to Fulton County Police Department records.
Fulton County Animal Control Officers first responded to a call on April 27 about a large, copper-red dog roaming through a shopping mall parking lot looking malnourished, according to the arrest affidavit. Officers found the dog tied up to the back of an RV and left unattended.
An unknown male approached officers in an aggressive manner saying, "We not taking the dog," and explained he was outside doing work on the RV, the affidavit states. Animal control left without any further incident.
The following day, police accompanied animal control workers to the site, where they encountered the man. He became "irate" and initially refused to identify himself, according to the affidavit; then he stated he was the singer Jaheim, whose legal name is Jaheim Hoagland, the court papers say.
Jaheim took the dog out of the kennel for officers to see, and the animal appeared "severely emaciated and his rib cage was protruding through the skin," the affidavit stated. The singer was given a written warning and the officers said they would return to obtain the dog's veterinarian records and do a reassessment.
On April 29, animal control received an additional complaint about another of Jaheim's dogs that looked emaciated, the affidavit read. The singer allegedly moved his RV to different locations in the Atlanta area until a search warrant was executed and he was found on May 1.
The "Just in Case" singer from Tucker, Georgia, was arrested that day and released on May 2 after posting a $35,000 bond, records show.
Six of his dogs found in the RV — named Tweet, Tip, Taka, Tink, Timber and Tanger — were found to not have "adequate food, water, sanitary conditions and ventilation," court documents stated.
There were four American pit bull terriers, one French bulldog and one hound type mixed breed found. Three of the dogs were puppies, according to the court records.
The puppies were found in kennels with urine and feces covering the floor in an RV with no air circulating, according to the affidavit. They had overgrown nails and some had feces on their paws.
The Frenchie canine was found missing patches of hair from its rear end, the affidavit stated.
Jaheim is scheduled to appear in court on June 2. It is not clear if the 47-year-old singer has an attorney.
Jaheim was previously charged with third-degree animal cruelty in 2021 after officials found multiple emaciated dogs at his New Jersey home, including one that was in such poor condition that it had to be euthanized.
Officers found six dogs in crates in separate animal crates in Jaheim's driveway and an additional nine dogs in "in varying stages of emaciation," according to a September 2021 press release from the Somerset County Prosecutor's Office.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com