Man shoves 10-year-old to the ground, snatches puppy from his arms

[Brian Baldwin]

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/articl...AGLSQ68UG7.DTL

(06-01) 17:42 PDT VACAVILLE -- There are thieves and then there are thieves who steal puppies from children.
A reward of up to $1,000 is being offered for information leading to the arrest of a man who shoved a 10-year-old Vacaville boy to the ground, snatched his favorite puppy and jumped into a getaway car as the distraught boy screamed for his pet.
"I think it is horrible," said Vacaville police Sgt. Denise Quatman, who on Friday made a plea to the public to help investigators find the pet-napper and return the little dog to its owner. "It's not something that we've encountered before."
The incident happened Wednesday as the boy was playing with a litter of 5-week-old American bulldog puppies inside a wire kennel in the front yard of his family's residence on Alamo Drive.
Quatman said the boy's parents were picking up one of his siblings from school at about 3 p.m. when a man walked up and asked the boy if he could buy one of the pups. The boy, who was holding one puppy in his arms at the time, told the man that the puppies were not for sale because they were still too young and had not been weaned.
The suspect suddenly grabbed the puppy from the boy's arm, pushed the 10-year-old to the ground and started running.
"The boy followed after him, screaming for him to give him his puppy back," Quatman said.
The suspect jumped into a light green, newer model four-door sedan driven by someone else. They were last seen traveling on Alamo Drive toward Interstate 80, Quatman said. She described the suspect as an 18- to 20-year-old man, about 6 feet tall and with a medium build.
"It looks like the event was planned. It wasn't a spur-of-the-moment thing," Quatman said. "An accomplice was waiting in a car around the corner."
Solano Crime Stoppers is offering up to $1,000 for information about the thieves or the missing puppy.
Quatman said the 1300 block of Alamo Drive is a busy area with a lot of traffic, so there was ample opportunity for the suspects to stake out the house without being noticed. Purebred bulldogs like the one stolen usually sell for between $1,500 and $2,000.
"We're hoping that people will provide information so we can locate the dog," Quatman said. "Maybe somebody saw or knows these guys and knows that they shouldn't have a dog."
Puppies are generally not ready for adoption until they have been weaned from the mother at around 6 to 8 weeks.
"The person who did it did not have a lot of regard for the young man, not to mention a 5-week old puppy that has not been weaned yet," Quatman said.
It is just lucky, she said, that the boy was not injured.
"I was impressed with the way he handled himself," she said. "He was obviously upset and scared, but he was angry, too, because he loved the dog. He's kind of beating himself up now for not holding onto the dog. He misses the puppy. He had become very attached." Anyone with information about the suspect is urged to call Vacaville police at (707) 449-5200. Solano Crime Stoppers can be reached at (707) 664-STOP.

Just look at what liberal law enforcement techniques have led to. In my childhood it was more likely a man would offer a free puppy without trying to bugger you. Now not only do we have pedophiles to worry about we have to worry about puppy snatchers! Can everyone say "Thanks ACLU! You Bastards!"

[Ryan Ruck]

When I saw the headline, I wondered if it was Alec Baldwin.

[Brian Baldwin]

ROFLMAO. Could still be. A little hollywood makeup to make himself appear younger.... hmmm

[Phil Fiord]

Actually, this story reminds me of many reports in Los Angeles that discuss puppy thieves. Bull Dogs have been noted before as well as small 'toy' types.

Just do a Google News search for "puppy thief" or some varient and see. Some breeds have been tied to gangs and the types of dogs favored by gang members.

So, it is not surprising that a bad guy would target a 10 year old as an easy mark to illegally gain a choice puppy.

I am a little taken back to find a link between dog theft, pedophiles and the ACLU, as you note Brian

The thrust of this story links to a trend in dog theft. In this story the boy was the target, but it may well have been a 70 year old woman for that matter. How could the local law enforcement in Vacaville, CA have done a better job when the house was on a busy street and opportunists of an ugly sort case a place and make their grab?

As it is, police are more in a capacity to clean up after a crime is committed, finding the reasons for it, and arresting the offender. Programs that are done hand in hand with police and the communities they serve are only as good as both parties are willing to be together and it is my guess more community folk have 'no time' for such things and see the police as a service or worse, the enemy who they call only when convenient.

[Phil Fiord]

Here is a sad but interesting twist on a dog theft story.

Man breaks into burning house, wakes family out to safety, including puppy - an early birthday gift for the 4 year old son.

Next day, family is in another house, leave puppy in house to find it missing and evidence of a crackhead being there.

Its Canada, but no joke, it could happen anywhere.

http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/loc...-4572874c.html

Family loses home, then dog
Little boy's birthday puppy apparently stolen a day after house fire on Langside Street
Mon May 7 2007
By Alexandra Paul
A family shaken by a fire that forced them out of their home was hit the next day with a further emotional blow -- their new residence was broken into and the family dog is now missing.
At 3:30 a.m. Saturday, the Nolette family was burnt out in an apparent arson at their rented home on Langside Street.
They moved later that day to another house but were dismayed to find early Sunday that a thief had broken into their new home and apparently taken their dog.
The puppy, a two-month-old chocolate Labrador named Bear, had been a birthday present for Braydon Nolette, who turned four this weekend.
"I'm offering $100 reward to get my puppy back, no questions asked," said Nicole Nolette, 21, the mother of the family and a counter clerk at the Portage Place Subway.
The puppy was saved with the rest of the family when a courageous neighbour kicked in the door at 626 Langside St. early Saturday morning and roused the family to escape the fire.
A fire in the garage spread to the back of the house early Saturday before spreading to houses on either side at 624 and 628 Langside.
The Arson Task Force is investigating that fire and another one six blocks away on Victor Street that also spread to homes on each side. Both fires were set minutes apart.
As Nolette told her story Sunday, her sons Dakota, 2, and Braydon, 4, picked their way among the garage's charred timbers to stand by their mother. Under the blackened posts was the burned-out hulk of the family car.
The Nolette family figured they had a guardian angel the night of the fire when their neighbour, Howard King, banged on their front door to wake them up.
He said he saw flames shooting past the roof of the two-storey home a couple of doors down from his place on Langside and ran to get the family out.
When no one answered the front door, King said he kicked it in. "I woke everybody up and got them out of the house."
Nolette said she was grateful to her neighbour. "That's all I heard: 'There's a fire. Get out,' " she said. She fled with her two sons and her partner, Robert Poole.
On Saturday night, the Langside landlord gave the family permission to stay in a vacant house of his on Langside.
They brought Bear, the puppy that had been with the family for a few weeks as an early birthday gift for Braydon.
Having a dog around lent the family a sense of security. Nolette believed Bear's bark would keep strangers away.
Nolette said she settled Bear in the kitchen of their new home and left for her mother's house, where the family was going to regroup and sleep.
"I'd just moved the puppy to the new place and we left to spend the night at my mom's. I went back in the morning and a crackhead broke in and stole my puppy," Nolette said.
She figures the vagrant was a drug user because of crack paraphernalia, including pop cans with punctured ends, in the front yard. She spotted the litter in the daylight when she returned to collect the dog yesterday.
Inside the house, she found a pile of blankets, still warm from body heat, on the floor in an upstairs bedroom and she smelled cigarette smoke. But Bear was nowhere to be found.
After two months on Langside, the young woman said she's decided to leave the area.
People with information about the puppy can reach Nolette at 793-8637.

alexandra.paul@freepress.mb.ca

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