Arrests made in Big Pig stabbing

Update: Richard Charles Pinegar III (left), 20, was also arrested this morning. Pinegar, 12355 Foxmoor Peak Dr. in Riverview, was charged with two counts of felony cruelty to animals, two counts of grand theft and one count of trespassing.

BRANDON -- Deputies have arrested one person in connection with Sunday's killing of one pig and the stabbing of another. More arrests are expected.

William Andrew Lilley (right), 20, 10119 Gibsonton Drive, was charged with felony cruelty to animals, grand theft and trespassing after investigators learned he and several others spent Saturday drinking and decided to do some hunting.

Somewhere between 1 and 4 a.m. Sunday morning, officials said Lilley and others arrived at the Sun City Stables, 4430 U.S. 41, climbed a fence and repeatedly struck a 50-pound pig with a pole.

When that pig died, they threw it in the back of a pickup truck and moved on to Big Pig, a 400-pound pig they stabbed with a knife. Investigators said the suspects then tried to remove Big Pig from his pen by tying a garden hose around him and dragging him with the pickup truck.

When that failed, they took off, allowing at least six more pigs to escape the stables.

Big Pig survived but was severely wounded from several cuts. He was left behind.

-- Casey Cora, Times staff writer