James City County Police arrested a man Friday in connection with the Oct. 24 theft of a horse that was later returned.
Eddie Raymond Barker, 59, of Forge Road is charged with grand larceny, breaking and entering with the intent to commit larceny and misdemeanor animal cruelty, according to a news release from police. He is accused of stealing a 9-year-old dark brown Hanoverian named Windchill — and nicknamed Jos — from Willow Pond Farm on Forge Road in Toano.
Maj. Steve Rubino, spokesperson for the county police, said Barker confessed to taking the horse during questioning. Barker also indicated he was keeping the horse in the woods.
Barker was released from Virginia Peninsula Regional Jail on a $2,500 bond.
Willow Pond Farm’s barn manager discovered the horse was taken the morning of Oct. 24. She noticed the stall appeared to have been occupied by Jos for most of the night, as much of the hay was gone and the stall contained evidence Jos had defecated during the night.
That same day Jos’ owner, Marianne Bobskill, reached out to media outlets to ask the public’s help finding her horse. The next morning, Jos was found loose on the farm’s property with its distinctive markings covered up. Police said in a release Friday that Barker is believed to have used spray paint to cover up the markings because of the media attention the theft received.
It is unclear whether the horse was returned to the farm or it broke free and wandered back to the property.
“We’re just incredibly lucky and blessed to be living in such a community where everyone pulls together like this,” Bobskill said about the public’s support in spreading the word in an interview following Jos’ return.
Barker also has misdemeanor charges of hunting with a loaded firearm from a boat, transporting a loaded firearm and failure to check a deer pending against him for an Oct. 16 incident. He is scheduled to appear in court for that offense 8 a.m. Dec. 3.
In May, Barker paid more than $100 in fines for unlawfully hunting and trapping a wild animal.
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