One man in Washington thought that he could get away with stealing a puppy. The 35-year-old pretended that he was purchasing the dog from a breeder when he snatched the pooch from the owner without paying and drove away in his white SUV. Fortunately, the owner had security cameras that captured the theft with clear images of the man’s outfit and vehicle.
Police spend one week tracing the thief down
On September 9 at around 10 p.m., deputies responded to a report of an unnamed 35-year-old man who had stolen an Australian Labradoodle named Sherbert from its owner, who runs a licensed family-run business from her home, according to a post by the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office on its official Facebook page.
The suspect had set up an appointment to purchase the puppy, but instead of paying for the pooch, he took it and ran. Images taken from the owner’s surveillance system showed that the man drove a white SUV and wore a red Ford cap, a red GAP hoodie, and grey pants.
With that evidence in hand, police took a week to investigate the incident and eventually tracked the man down. On September 16 at around 10:45 a.m., deputies approached an apartment complex in Puyallup where they located the suspect’s vehicle. Bodycam footage shows a deputy with a search warrant entering the thief’s apartment on the first floor.
The cop catches the man, clearly surprised, still laying in bed as a dog yelps in the background. The thief is told he is under arrest before he dragged out of bed and placed in handcuffs against a wall. Investigators later found clothing, specifically the Ford hat and Gap hoodie, in the bedroom matching the description of the thief’s clothing at the scene of the crime.
The man was charged with felony theft in the second degree and felony possession of stolen property in the second degree. Deputies discovered that the suspect is also wanted for felony crimes in other states and will be extradited in the future.
Video shows Sherbert being reunited with its owner and being happy to be home. The sheriff’s office hopes that the puppy finds “a permanent, loving home in the future.”
