A stolen pooch was reunited with his owner in Boston after the alleged dognapper was spotted by a news crew and gave an interview.
Titus, a 13-month-old German Short Haired Pointer, was snatched from a parked car near Memorial Drive around 12:30 p.m. on Friday, news station WHDH reported.
Police obtained surveillance footage that showed a man walking the dog over the Boston University Bridge.
When a 7NEWS crew was filming later at the scene, they saw a man walking with Titus.
The news team stopped the man, later identified as Kyle Gariepy, 29, for an interview in which he claimed that the theft was a misunderstanding.
“He was just barking in the car and I walked past the car and I thought it was supposed to be a dog I was dog walking,” Gariepy told the outlet. “It wasn’t a kidnapping it was just a simple mistake.”
But authorities said Gariepy never contacted police or the owners, whose number was on Titus’ dog tag, WHDH reported.
Gariepy, however, said that he tried to call and the phone was broken.
He was arrested on charges for larceny of more than $1,200 and breaking and entering into a vehicle to commit a felony.
Meanwhile, Titus was safely returned to his owner, who praised the news crew for intervening to help.
“I’m just glad that the person came back and I’m just glad that you guys were there,” his owner, Greg Siesczkiewicz, told the outlet.
“If anyone ever sees this who question the value of media, social media, broadcast media, this proves it.”
