Four Sumter County men were arrested September 17 in an investigation of an alleged dogfighting event in Eastover in 2022, WIS reported Monday, citing the South Carolina Law Enforcement Division and arrest warrants.
Andrew Jeffrey Bryant Jr., Tevin V. Joyner and Orlando Raynell Coullette each face criminal conspiracy, four animal fighting or baiting counts and four ill treatment counts. Robert Brandon Hansley faces those charges plus a charge of presence at an animal fighting facility, according to WIS.
The warrants concern a September 24, 2022 operation on Hallwood Road at an event investigators called the Carolina Classic. Authorities allege the men helped arrange matches and brought dogs to fight. Those allegations have not been established by a conviction in the reporting reviewed here.
Why the rescue totals differ
WIS ties 19 rescued dogs to this case. A separate Justice Department announcement from September 26, 2022 describes the much wider, multi county operation that weekend: 305 dogs rescued in total, with 275 believed to be connected to dogfighting.
The federal account says officers interrupted a scheduled Richland County fight on Saturday and executed 23 search warrants at properties across six counties the following morning. The Humane Society of the United States and Bark Nation helped handle and care for animals.
Those totals describe different scopes of the 2022 enforcement operation. Neither figure should be presented as the number of dogs newly rescued during the September 2026 arrests.
WIS reports that the four men were booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center and that the 5th Circuit Solicitor’s Office will prosecute the case.
Sources
How we reported this: WIS supplies the current charge details. The opened Justice Department release verifies the historical operation, not the four current defendants’ alleged conduct.
