CHILLICOTHE, Ohio — A Ross County man was arrested Tuesday morning after allegedly shooting a neighbor’s dog that he claimed was attacking his livestock, an incident that unraveled into a broader investigation revealing he was legally barred from possessing firearms due to a prior rape conviction.

Michael Edgington, 43, now faces charges of having weapons while under disability, a felony offense, following a tense confrontation with law enforcement and a meticulous search of his property.

The investigation began when Ross County Sheriff’s deputies responded to a call near the intersection of SR-772 and Grubb Road. A neighbor reported that a man had shot her black-and-white dog and loaded its body into a silver pickup truck.

“Dispatch advised that the caller stated a male had shot her dog and has it in his silver truck, that she believed was possibly a Chevy,” said Ross County Sheriff Sergeant Jake Champion.

Sergeant Champion and Deputy Brayden arrived at the scene, where they spotted a silver Ford F-150 in the driveway, registered to Edgington. Champion noted immediate signs of a violent incident: “I observed a large pool of blood and blood spatter on the side of the house and garage door.” When Edgington emerged from the garage, he preemptively declared, “I don’t have a gun,” though he appeared visibly rattled. “Michael appeared to be sweating, out of breath, and his chest was moving in and out very quickly and deeply,” Champion observed, interpreting these as “signs consistent with a person who is exhibiting stress.”

Edgington told Champion that dogs had repeatedly trespassed onto his property to attack his chickens, asserting, “The United States Constitution allows me to have a firearm to protect my property.” Yet, he avoided directly admitting to the shooting. “His body language and ways of answering questions indirectly indicated to me that he was being untruthful,” Champion wrote in a report.

The situation escalated when the neighbor provided Deputy Woodbridge with a firsthand account and photographic evidence.

“She stated that she saw her dog running around the front of the house and the man began to shoot at it,” Woodbridge reported. “She stated that he had hit it and it dropped in the driveway. She stated the man then walked over to the dog and picked the dog up by the tail [and] threw it into the bed of his truck.” The woman had photos that captured Edgington holding a rifle and, in a provocative gesture, “pulling his bibs down and exposing his butt to her,” Woodbridge added. She also alleged that the man rammed her car with his truck when she pulled into his driveway.

As deputies pressed their investigation, Edgington’s mother, Meredith “Jane” Edgington, arrived and echoed her son’s claims about trespassing dogs. When asked if she heard gunshots that morning, “she paused for an extended period of time, especially for such a simple question, and then finally said, ‘No,’” Champion noted. “Her long delay and continuous looking over to Michael out of the corner of her eye indicated to me that she was being untruthful.”

A critical breakthrough came when dispatch confirmed Edgington’s criminal history: a 2005 rape conviction for which he served seven years in prison.

“Detective Captain Adair advised me that this would put him under disability, meaning that he could not legally possess a firearm,” Champion wrote. With this revelation, deputies arrested Edgington for having weapons while under disability, reading him his Miranda rights. Edgington declined to speak further and refused consent to search his truck or home, asserting, “The Constitution allows me to own firearms and protect my property,” according to Woodbridge.

Undeterred, deputies secured a search warrant, signed by Judge Michael Ater of the Ross County Common Pleas Court. Inside the covered bed of Edgington’s F-150, they found the neighbor’s deceased dog.

“The dog had a single pea-sized gunshot wound (entrance) to its left torso and an exit wound on the right side of its neck,” Champion detailed. “Based off of the angle of the wounds, it appears that the dog was shot from behind with a small caliber bullet.” The Dog Warden took custody of the remains.

The search extended to the garage and residence, where deputies uncovered a .22 caliber rifle and, later, a black Ruger 5.56 rifle hidden in the attic. Detective Brenton Davidson, who joined the effort, spotted “a black magazine/clip to an AR rifle with two loose .556 caliber rounds lying next to it” beneath an attic access hatch. “The access hatch was not sitting flush, and it appeared someone had recently accessed the attic,” he wrote. Climbing up, Davidson retrieved the Ruger, equipped with a sling and Holosun red dot optic—matching Wolfe’s photos of Edgington with the weapon. Additional ammunition, including a magazine with 23 rounds, was seized.

Edgington’s wife, Maria Edgington, who lived separately at the searched residence, insisted the firearms belonged to her.

“Maria advised that all of the guns in the home belong to her, and that she did not accept that Michael was under a disability,” Detective Kevin Pierce recorded. She claimed Michael, a truck driver living with his mother, was only at her home because she asked him to address the dog attacking her chickens.

The neighbor, meanwhile, provided a written statement to deputies, reiterating her account: “She told the man outside the residence that she was trying to find her dog. She then stated that he stated to her that she better find the dogs before he does because he was going to kill them.”

Edgington remains in custody at the Ross County Jail, charged with illegally possessing a firearm.