Arlington police officer indicted in animal cruelty case after 3 dogs die in husband’s care
An Arlington police officer has been indicted on a retaliation charge in connection to an animal cruelty case where three dogs died under the care of her husband and his dog training and boarding business.
Arlington officer Stacie Brown was indicted on Dec. 11 by a Tarrant County grand jury.
Having been with the department for 18 years, she has been placed on leave pending the outcome of an administrative investigation being conducted by the Arlington Police Department’s Internal Affairs Unit. She was most recently assigned to the DWI Unit.
Stacie’s husband, Alan Brown, was indicted in September by a Tarrant County grand jury on three counts of animal cruelty resulting in death — a count for each pet that died under his care — and tampering with evidence.
Pet owners have come forward since 2021 to say their dogs died after being left with Alan’s business, K9 Direction, according to Star-Telegram media partner WFAA-TV.
The pet owners include Emeka and Masera Ndukwe, who made a viral Facebook post on July 3 stating the death of their pet, Brooklyn, happened in June 2023 in Alan’s care while the couple were on a vacation in Europe.
“I don’t normally use Facebook but I need justice for my dog and I will relentlessly pursue this until this guy is out of business and can never do this to anyone again,” Emeka wrote in the post.
The post also says the Ndukwes’ dog was left unattended in the heat in Alan’s van during a training session and that Alan provided misleading information about the condition of the dog. The post included a screenshot of an email from a manager of a pet clinic sent to the Ndukwes stating Alan brought the dog to the clinic, where it was declared deceased, and the pet was taken to a cold storage facility.
Emeka goes on in the post alleging that Alan failed to provide updates about Brooklyn and the Ndukwes had their friends visit his home in efforts to pick up the dog. Emeka and Masera, who were overseas by June 24, were finally notified by Alan on July 2 that Brooklyn died on June 28.
In a screenshot of messages between the Ndukwes and Alan, he said he delayed notifying them of the dog’s death as his intention was to help them “preserve” memories of their vacation.
In response to the Facebook post, Stacie Brown filed a police report against the Ndukwes alleging the couple made the Facebook post with the intent to harm or threaten her on account of her service or status as a public servant, according to WFAA. Alan and Stacie later dropped the case. That “false police report” made by the officer led to the charge against Stacie Brown, according to the indictment.
A plea agreement was offered to Alan in October for deferred adjudication with 10 years of community supervision, a fine of $1,000 and an agreement not to own non-livestock animals, but he has not accepted the offer, according to court documents.
His attorneys filed a motion on Dec. 22 seeking to modify the conditions of his bond, asking that the court grant him “supervised contact with domesticated dogs, facilitated by the owners or custodian of the pets, in a public setting” so that he can continue to operate his business and earn a living. A hearing on the motion is scheduled for Tuesday.
