A Modern Day Rustler?

arrested a North Stonington man on Friday in connection with the theft of 18 cows taken from High View Farm in Tiverton last week, Tiverton Patch reported.

Ledyard E. Lewis, 41, of 273 Boombridge Road, North Stonington, was charged with larceny over $500 (a felony) and theft of animals.

According to Tiverton police, Lewis turned himself in on Friday. The theft was reported on Thursday, March 15. He was arraigned by Justice of the Peace Molly Cote and was released on $10,000 personal recognizance.

Lewis claims to have acted alone in the theft and that he took the cows in payment for materials (feedstock) he previously sold to farm owner Arthur Smith. According to an NBC 10 News report, a truck and trailer took the cows off the property during the day.

Currently, the cows are quarantined on Lewis’s North Stonington farm, since they were transported across state lines. Once the cows are tested and examined by a representative of the Connecticut Department of Agriculture, they can be returned to Tiverton. No time frame has been given for this process.

The case will be referred to the Rhode Island Attorney General’s office for review and charges will go to Superior Court.