Stolen San Francisco Service Dog Recovered; Return To Owner
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) -- A service dog snatched while being taken out for a walk in a San Francisco neighborhood was recovered Thursday night and reunited with its owner.
A thief grabbed "Summer" -- a 5-year-old German Shepherd -- by the dog's harness and fled on Monday evening near Waller and Octavia streets.
"Summer" was microchipped and was a certified service dog.
In a tweet, SFPD Park station officers posted on Thursday evening -- "Summer was located and happily reunited. The investigation into who took Summer is ongoing. No arrest has been made at this time."
Anyone with information on who took the dog was asked to contact SFPD.
It was the second happy conclusion of a brazen dognapping in San Francisco in a week.
San Francisco police have also released details about the Monday recovery of a French Bulldog that was violently snatched from her owner in the Marina District on New Year's Day.
Police said the female victim was walking her nine-month-old pet dog "Rosie" shortly after 10 a.m. Saturday morning in the area of Broderick and Beach Streets when she was approached by the suspect.
The suspect reportedly grabbed the dog's leash and yanked her from her owner, dragging the dog into a vehicle -- a silver Chrysler 200 with a partial license plate 7JPM -- and fleeing the scene.
Police said on Monday, a person from the Sacramento area called the SFPD Tip Line to report that he saw stories on social media about the robbery after he purchased Rosie in Sacramento.
The SFPD investigator confirmed the dog was Rosie and drove to the area to retrieve her, reuniting the dog with her owner later that day. Police said Rosie appeared in good health, though the person who purchased her said she had not eaten much.
SFPD later shared a photo of the happy owner and pet after they had been reunited.
Police additionally noted that on Monday, a Contra Costa County Sherriff Deputy located the suspect vehicle in the case -- a Chrysler four-door sedan -- in San Pablo. The vehicle was being driven by an adult male who was detained, though currently the driver was not determined to be the robbery suspect.
The vehicle was towed to SFPD Crime Scene Investigations to process it for possible evidence. No arrests have been made in connection with the pet robbery.