MACON, Ga. — The Bibb County Sheriff’s Office and BCSO Animal Control Enforcement arrested Ronald Thomas Stokes on Tuesday.
Stokes was wanted on a warrant regarding an aggravated cruelty to animals charge, after a dog was found dead inside his hot car at the Harrison Road Walmart on June 25.
Stokes had additional warrants out of Bibb County, including a DUI and an open container charge, as well as reckless driving.
Mike Roland is still grieving the loss of his 3-year-old pitbull, Bobo.
Roland says Bobo was his best friend and would sometimes join him on his outings painting houses.
"I guess you say, me and Bobo saved each other. We rescued each other," Roland said. "30 minutes after I get there, he's under the ladder and he hung with me every day, all day."
Roland says officers tried to arrest him at the scene, but let him go when he explained it was his friend's car, and Stokes was looking after Bobo.
"He was, I thought, a good friend of mine... I thought," Roland said. "I can't change things. I can't turn back time."
Roland says he tried reaching out to the Sheriff's office about Stokes' whereabouts for weeks.
He says he's not sure why the arrest took more than a month to happen, and is still deciding whether this brings him closure from losing his best friend.
"I really hate to see him locked up," Roland said. "But it don't bring my dog back, you know. I can't say whether getting satisfaction or not."
Roland says he has just one message for dog owners in the area:
"I want people to know that, man, don't leave your dog in the car," he said. "Dogs would love to live just like you do."