Armed suspects rob Chicago woman of her beloved French bulldog
CHICAGO (CBS) – The search for a stolen French bulldog, taken by two armed men, and put in the trunk of a car has devastated his owner.
A 73-year-old Chicago woman told her story only to CBS 2's Andrew Ramos.
It happened along 72nd Street in broad daylight. As traumatizing as the experience has been for Carlita Phillips, she said she's still hopeful she'll be reunited with her pup named King Tut.
"Every morning, you know, I am getting up and I see his bed and it's like, 'So where is he? How is he sleeping? What is he sleeping on?'" said Phillips.
The reminders of King Tut, are everywhere inside her home. His toys, water bowl, and jackets for just about every season.
The 2-year-old French bulldog hasn't been home in over a week.
It was on Feb. 11 when Phillips took "Tut" on his morning walk along East 72nd Street, where around 10 a.m., they made their way toward Exchange.
A black, late model Infiniti captured on surveillance camera from a nearby business crossed paths with Phillips, and then she said it backed up and pulled into a nearby lot.
"A guy gets out, and he has a pistol under his arm," Phillips said. "And another guy on the passenger side, he gets out, and he stays by the car."
The armed man demanded the unthinkable.
"'Let go of the dog!'" Phillips recalled. "At that point, I give him the leash. After I give him the leash, he takes the dog to the car and they throw my puppy in the trunk."
The pair then took off. It would be the last time she saw "Tut."
"I am looking at this guy and I'm saying to myself, you know, this is not a life," she said.
Phillips would later report the crime to Chicago police. After running the plates, detectives determined that the car was stolen.
The 73-year-old Chicago native who has lived in the South Shore neighborhood for nearly four decades said the experience is one she never thought she would have.
With posters now plastered in the community and King Tut's belongings frozen in time the way he left them, Phillips sits and waits and as she said will "trust the process."
"I just pray that whoever's hands he's falling into, that they will do the right thing," she said.
Anyone with information in the case is asked to call police. They can also contact Ramos directly on Twitter @AndrewRamosTV.
