Soda City founder Emile DeFelice arrested on harassment charge after dispute over dog
The founder of Columbia’s popular Soda City market is in legal trouble following a dispute over a dog.
Emile DeFelice was arrested Friday and charged with second-degree harassment after a text exchange with the dog’s owner and posting on social media.
In a recent Facebook post that has since been deleted, DeFelice described finding the dog wandering loose and in poor condition on Oct. 11 in a Columbia neighborhood.
DeFelice wrote that he picked up the dog and got care for it at Five Points Animal Clinic. The dog was micro-chipped, and the clinic contacted the dog’s owner.
But when the man said he was on his way to retrieve the dog, DeFelice left with the animal and later refused to release it when contacted by the owner, the owner later told Richland County sheriff’s deputies.
Alex Postic, DeFelice’s attorney, said DeFelice was motivated by “a sense of duty to the health and safety of the dog,” believing it was in “very bad shape.”
“Emile has raised tens of thousands of dollars for the city shelter spay/neuter program, adopted a dog from them, and is an former board member of Animal Mission,” Postic said. “Anyone who has been to Soda City knows that he runs the most dog-friendly event in the city.
“Unfortunately, through misunderstanding... things escalated and charges were sought,” Postic said.
In the now-deleted Facebook post, DeFelice also shared text messages sent between him and the dog’s owner. DeFelice identified the owner by name and also identified the dog owner’s place of employment. A number of people commented on DeFelice’s post at the time, many of them praising DeFelice’s actions toward the dog and some disparaging the dog’s owner.
Also in the posts, DeFelice said he was resistant to returning the dog to its owner and offered to adopt it from him.
The owner told sheriff’s deputies he interpreted some of his communication from DeFelice as threatening.
In a statement, the sheriff’s office says it verified the dog’s owner with the animal clinic and confirmed it was in good health. On Oct. 15, DeFelice returned the dog “after some back and forth communication with the investigator,” according to the sheriff’s statement.
Investigators later determined DeFelice “deliberately posted false and misleading information against the victim and sent text messages after being told to stop several times,” according to the sheriff’s release.
DeFelice was booked into the Alvin S. Glenn Detention Center on Friday and has since been released.
DeFelice is a well-known figure in the Columbia community. A former hog farmer, he founded the All-Local Farmers Market in 2005, then in 2012 rebranded it as the Soda City Market and moved it to Main Street. The market has become one of the city’s signature attractions and draws thousands of people each Saturday. He also founded the popular Gervais Street bridge dinner five years ago.
DeFelice also is known for the unusual distinction of having a good-behavior clause in his contract with the city to run the downtown market; in 2016, the city was specific in requiring DeFelice to conduct himself as a “positive promoter and de facto goodwill ambassador” or risk losing the deal to use Main Street for the market.
This story was originally published October 28, 2019 at 3:37 PM.
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