Dog stolen from front porch Staten Island, NY (US)Incident Date: Sunday, Oct 31, 2010 County: Richmond
Disposition: Alleged
Alleged: Khadija Jones
A Halloween dog-napping case " a trick-or-treater snatched a West Brighton teenager's cherished Yorkshire terrier " ended happily yesterday, after the pup tried to escape her alleged captor's bag in front of a police officer.
The case of Amira, the stolen teacup Yorkie, began unfolding on Delafield Avenue on the spookiest night of the year.
A surveillance camera caught the whole thing: A woman in a hooded jacket walking up to Tabitha Almeida's porch, scooping up the 6-month-old pooch, slipping her into the jacket and walking off.
To judge by the video, the thief was accompanied by three children and two adults.
Ms. Almeida's family blanketed the neighborhood with fliers and gave the video to media outlets, and sure enough, someone called in an anonymous tip, that a teenager living on Broadway near Forest Avenue had a new dog matching Amira's description.
So yesterday, Ms. Almeida's sister, Blaise Guerin, and Ms. Guerin's teenage son staked out the suspect's house, "because we knew she was going to move the dog."
About 2 p.m., the suspect " identified by police as Khadieja Jones, 18, of the 400 block of Broadway " ventured out with two bags, prompting Ms. Guerin to follow her to a bus stop and confront her.
The teen opened one bag to show no dog inside, and denied stealing Amira, but refused to show the contents of the second bag and tried to board a city bus.
Ms. Guerin tried to prevent Ms. Jones' escape, catching the attention of a nearby police officer looking to find out what the holdup was with the bus.
At first, the officer said she couldn't search Ms. Jones' second purse, Ms. Guerin said, but Amira had other plans.
"The dog heard my voice, and the bag started moving," Ms. Guerin said. "She's very hyper."
The teen was arrested on the spot, and Amira " who belongs to Ms. Almeida's 15-year-old daughter, Alexis " went home, where she was reunited with the family's two Shih Tzu puppies, Chaya and Chase.
Police have charged Ms. Jones with criminal trespass, misdemeanor criminal possession of stolen property and petit larceny. It's not clear which charges prosecutors will formally levy against her when she's arraigned in Stapleton Criminal Court.
No one answered the door at Ms. Jones' house yesterday afternoon.
Back on Delafield, all three dogs ran frantically around Ms. Almeida's living room, tiny, undulating balls of fur spinning on the floor.
Alexis, who's a sophomore at the Petrides School, said she ran out of class early when she got word that Amira was back home.
"I actually cut school and ran to come to here," Alexis said. "My mom spoke to the principal and told him what was going on."
In a bit of serendipity, Ms. Almeida's brother, Cody Concepcion, installed the video camera that caught the theft just two weeks before Halloween, in response to a rash of home break-ins on the block in September.
Ms. Almeida says she can't fathom how someone would steal a family pet from a neighbor's front steps while young children watched.
Added Ms. Guerin, "Any normal person with morals would knock on the door and say, 'Excuse me, your dog's outside.'" References« NY State Animal Cruelty Map « More cases in Richmond County, NY
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