Police Track Down Puppy Stolen In Broad Daylight From Wellesley Home
WELLESLEY (CBS) – Two people were charged after they allegedly stole a black lab puppy from the front yard of a Wellesley home in broad daylight.
A family on Redwing Road reported their 8-month old puppy named Ember missing on Thursday. The dog had been in their front yard on a tether, but a short time later was gone.
"We were heartbroken and we just wanted to know that she was OK," said Illana Nissenbaum, the dog's owner.
Officer Derek Harris opened an investigation, and was able to view surveillance footage from several homes in the neighborhood. The cameras captured a vehicle circling the victim's home several times before Ember was taken.
Police were able to identify the license plate, which was registered to a Framingham resident.
On Sunday, the vehicle was spotted in Framingham. Officers watched the suspect's home, and a short time later saw Ember being let out in the yard.
Manuel Sierra, a 40-year-old Framingham man was arrested at the scene. A 32-year-old woman was later identified and will be summonsed to court.
Both suspects are charged with receiving stolen property over $1,200 and conspiracy.
Police Chief Jack Pilecki said one of the suspects allegedly have health issues and they were coming home from Newton-Wellesley Hospital "and said 'Oh if we had a dog we would feel so much better.' And so they took the dog."
"This is a great example of good police work, but also the officers showing empathy to this family that had a missing 8-month-old black lab. I'm proud of the actions they took," Pilecki said. "I would hope nobody else would stoop to the level of stealing someone's dog."
Members of the family said at first they reported that the dog likely got loose. But the more they thought about it, the more things didn't add up. They credited the Wellesley Police Department for trusting their instinct, and investigating the missing dog.
"This is a great ending to a happy story that could have gone wrong," Neil Nissenbaum said.
