The story of two English Bulldog puppies stolen from a Centennial pet store has half of a happy ending as of Tuesday.
One of the puppies was returned Monday night by a woman who said she bought it from a “street vendor” in north Denver for $1,500.
“There's still some good people in the world,” said one store clerk as a tiny wrinkled puppy face burrowed into her chest.
That good person is Breneka Suggs, 33, who told The Denver Gazette that she spent her tax refund on him, fell in love with him over the weekend and named him Cujo, after the movie based on Stephen King's 1981 horror novel.
She added that she talked the sellers down from $2,500 to $1,500 cash for the puppy, who was “so smart and so sweet and the best cuddler ever.”
The puppy was being displayed in a playpen Saturday morning, Suggs said, located on the ramp at I-70 and York Street. He was in the pen with the other bulldog puppy and “several pit bull mixes,” when she drove by.
She said investigators later showed her photos of the people who stole the dogs and they were not the same people who made the sale.
On Monday, Suggs saw a news report on the stolen bulldogs.
“I was like ‘Man, he looks like my puppy',” she said, and “decided to do the right thing.” She wrote pet shop owner Jens Larsen and returned her new puppy to Perfect Pets that night.
The promised $1,000 reward money is pending as information is substantiated by Arapahoe County Sheriff's investigators, Larsen said.
Monday night, the recovered pup sat in a dog bed shaped like a crown and picked up its ears as if acknowledging welcome yaps from other dogs in the store.
The puppies were from the same litter and were for sale for $4,299 before they were stolen this past weekend in what appeared to be a criminal operation.
Store manager Bianca Rose said that the brown and white spotted puppy is now safe at the store after a three-day caper that started when three men strolled into the shop early Friday afternoon looking for an easy mark.
Arapahoe County Sheriff's deputies supervised the handover from Suggs at the Perfect Pets shop at 6840 S. University Blvd. A spokesperson said detectives are running down leads.
Rose said the puppy thieves spent a half hour casing the store Friday “possibly waiting for customers to leave” — all caught on surveillance cameras.
The footage shows one of the men faked a seizure while the other ambled over to his fallen accomplice, appeared concerned about him, but then walked away.
As people dialed 911 for medical help, the sound of animals barking and crying can be heard over the video as the alleged dog thief walked to a back area, opened a cage of bulldog pups, grabbed two of them, and moved quickly for the door.
As he scrambled out the front door, the video showed a chaotic scene. Store clerk Nicole Larosa tripped the suspect but, as he stumbled, he kicked her in the face, dropped a plump puppy, and scooped it back up by the scruff of the neck as he exited, the video showed.
Two of the men took off in a gold Cadillac Escalade with no license plates driven by a female suspect, Rose said. The man who was faking the seizure was arrested. Timothy Davis, 37, faces charges of conspiracy to commit a felony, theft and drug possession.
Rose said that as the Arapahoe County Sheriff's deputies took Davis away, what appeared to be “a crack pipe fell out of his pocket.”
Deputies are still searching for the other three suspects. One of them is a black male who was wearing a large black coat and sweatpants. The other is a white or Hispanic male who was wearing a blue and white beanie-style hat and had brown hair. There is no description of the female who drove the getaway Escalade.
If you have any information regarding the whereabouts of the puppy or the three suspects who are at large, call the Arapahoe County Sheriff Investigations Tipline at (720) 874-8477. Callers can remain anonymous.
