A Navy man accused of abandoning a dog near the animal shelter in May is wanted on two different bench warrants, according to the Island County Prosecutor’s Office.

Rickey Frazier, 31, was charged July 2 with animal cruelty in the second degree for abandoning his dog, a mastiff mix named Chewbacca, with a bag of dog food and a bowl of water in a field off Highway 20 in Coupeville, according to a report from the Island County Sheriff’s Office.

The report stated that Frazier and his wife received notice from Hunt Military Family Housing in Oak Harbor that their residency was to be terminated in May because they kept the property in such poor condition.

The couple was separated and Frazier’s wife was already living at a different location, the report said, but Frazier still lived in the military family housing unit with Chewbacca, another dog and a cat by the time the eviction date rolled around.

Frazier told Island County Animal Control Officer Carol Barnes during her investigation that he and his wife did try to rehome Chewbacca after receiving notice of their eviction, according to her report.

When questioned about how Chewbacca had ended up in a Coupeville field, Frazier said the large dog must have wandered there on his own; Barnes’ report noted that in the past, Chewbacca had occasionally pushed open the back door, which had a broken latch, and jumped over the four-foot fence in the backyard.

However, Frazier never reported the dog missing and, during the course of Barnes’ investigation, security footage from Safeway in Oak Harbor revealed that he purchased a gallon jug of water and a bag of dog food — the same brand and flavor of the dog food found with Chewbacca — shortly before the dog was discovered, according to the animal control report.

Frazier attended his arraignment July 14 and one subsequent court appointment but failed to appear at four other scheduled hearings, after which the judge issued a $1,500 bench warrant against him, according to Island County Deputy Prosecutor Leif Drangsholt. Frazier said in a previous hearing that he was being transferred to a new Navy base out of state, Drangsholt said.

Chewbacca has since been nursed back to health at the Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation and is currently up for adoption.

Chewbacca wasn’t the only pet allegedly abandoned by Frazier. On May 19, the day Frazier moved out of his military housing unit, a maintenance manager found the cat, Odyssey, enclosed in a bathroom closet after Frazier left, according to a police report. A bowl of water and some cat food were left in the master bedroom, and all outward-facing doors and windows were closed.

Odyssey was placed in protective custody at the Whidbey Animals’ Improvement Foundation, the report stated.

Frazier was charged with another count of animal cruelty in the second degree but failed to appear for the Oct. 27 arraignment, according to Drangsholt. A $2,500 bench warrant was issued for his arrest.