PARMA, Ohio — After one man’s intense experience to get his dog back, he said they have finally been reunited thanks to a unique operation by Parma Police to catch the suspect.
The quest to find the man’s dog all began after the victim posted a desperate social media post on Saturday asking for the safe return of his two French bulldogs.
“We got a contact from someone stating that they redeemed one of the dogs. But he wasn’t able to get the other one. The other one was taken by another vehicle,” said the dog owner, who did not want to reveal his name out of fear of retaliation.
The victim said the good Samaritan returned one of his dogs and even gave the dog owner the vehicle’s license plate number and description of the passenger who allegedly took the other dog.
The dog owner said he then used this information to get Parma Police Officer Bryan Bernow involved in the investigation.
“He let me know that he put out a reward on Facebook for $1,000. He didn’t get anybody to bite on the $1,000, so he put it out that it was $2,500. He received a friend request, and a female started to message him, letting him know that she had the dog,” said Bernow.
Police said the story of how she found the dog seemed suspicious and didn’t make sense, so Bernow said he started an operation to get the dog back once he said he got approval from Sergeant Matt Burkhart.
“He was telling me about the information he was getting from the original dog owner that someone was messaging him trying to capitalize on the reward. He asked if we could set up a location and stay in the area,” said Burkhart.
Burkhart agreed, which led to the arrest and recovery of the victim’s dog at the intersection of State Road and Torrington Avenue in Parma in less than 24 hours.
In body camera video News 5 received from the Parma Police Department, the man in question appeared to tell officers he didn’t take the dog as he was being handcuffed.
But officers quickly dismissed his claims.
“Yeah, you did. You took the dogs,” said one of the responding officers.
“I thank them for that, and I still thank them for that from how fast and how efficient they were on it, how fast it moved,” said the victim.
Police said this is the first operation of its kind, and one that has created a lasting impact for the dog owner.
“It’s like your kid you know, so it’s like you have to take any action you can on it,” said the dog owner.
The suspect has been charged with felony theft and made his first court appearance on Tuesday.
