Long arrested, released; no charges filed to date

LINCOLNTON, Ga. —Lizzy Long was arrested by the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office on May 13, charged with cruelty to animals. She was released the same day on a $5,000 property bond posted by her husband, Lincolnton Mayor Mike McCombs.
The arrest comes after the April 17 incident where McCombs received a call from a city resident who said he had a cat which had become aggressive and he needed help dispatching the cat.
According to the police report on file, on April 17, Lincolnton Police Department Officer Jason Shelton received a call from City Hall on behalf of McCombs, who wanted him to go and shoot a “wild cat” that belonged to a family at an address in the city limits.
Shelton explained that he could not dispatch the cat unless he saw it attacking the resident. He was advised by McCombs to go to the home to speak with the homeowner.
After both men arrived at the residence, they found the homeowner bandaged from the attack. The cat was found under a bush outside the home, and Shelton reportedly urged the homeowner to have the cat put down.
Shelton’s report stated that in his opinion, the homeowner falling on the cat had sparked the problem.
The homeowner, however, said that was not the case. He said the animal had been acting up for some time, terrorizing him and his wife. He said he had just wanted the cat put down.
McCombs called Long, who arrived with a shotgun. After she attempted to catch the cat unsuccessfully, she dispatched the animal. Long has been called by local law enforcement on many previous occasions, often in the city limits, to dispatch animals that had been injured by vehicles.
Shelton reported that as he stood in the front of the garage, he heard a shot fired and then saw the animal come from its previous location, rolling around in pain before it died. He told the homeowner that the animal should be tested for rabies.
The results of the testing showed that the animal did not have rabies, but the homeowner said his vet thought that the animal possibly had a brain tumor, and that was why the cat had become aggressive.
Since that time, both McCombs and Long have come under fire because the city has an ordinance that prohibits residents from discharging a firearm in the city limits.
Both were interviewed by a GBI investigator, who dismissed the case and declined to file any charges.
However, Criminal Investigator Joshua Brown, with the Georgia Department of Agriculture, sought a warrant for Long’s arrest, McCombs said, because of incorrect information in Shelton’s report, which indicated that an incident had occurred the day before the shooting, on April 16 — the homeowner falling on and injuring the cat.
The report stated that in Shelton’s opinion, this is what caused the cat to become aggressive. This led Brown to believe that an incident on the previous day sparked the shooting on April 17. McCombs said this led investigators to believe there was malice involved in the shooting.
Once Brown received the correct information — that the homeowner had not fallen on the cat, but the cat had a history of aggressive behavior — he submitted a letter to the Lincoln County Magistrate Court, dated May 14, asking the court to recall the warrant issued for Long.
At press time, no charges had been filed, and an email to Brown had not been answered.