Caught on camera: French bulldog nabbed in Oakland car burglary
OAKLAND -- A thief broke into a Tesla parked near Jack London Square in Oakland, stealing a purse and a French bulldog named Boba.
The incident happened around 8 p.m. Friday and the dog's owner, a local attorney named Toya Zheng, has been putting up flyers near her workplace and the crime scene to find her missing dog. She said there will be a reward for Boba's return.
Video of the break-in shows the hooded thief pulling a purse from the car's trunk and then going back for the dog.
Boba is seen resisting as she was dragged toward the suspect's car. She even ran back toward Zheng's Tesla but the thief yanked her back to the getaway car and drove away.
"That was miserable for me to see that because Boba was really small in the video and she was trying so hard. She was trying her best to get away from those people," Zheng said. "I was so close but I wasn't there, so I feel really bad and guilty because it was my fault."
Zheng said she had driven to her nearby law office to grab paperwork.
"I know that French bulldogs are expensive but I thought that I would be fine if I just left for two minutes. I was so wrong," Zheng said.
She said that her car has been broken into eight times near her workplace over the past 2 1/2 years but she never left anything of value inside until Friday.
"There's no Boba at my house," Zheng said tearfully. "I think right now it's just really hard for me to accept the fact that Boba is gone."
Zheng says that when she called 911, the dispatcher said an officer would not be coming to the scene because Zheng was not in danger and she was directed to the non-emergency line to make an online report that had yet to be approved as of Sunday night.
Zheng said she rescued Boba from a breeder. Boba has two distinct light brown spots above her eyes and prefers to stay indoors; she also doesn't eat food from strangers.