Jun 9, 2009 3:02 pm US/Pacific
Concord Woman Pays $10,000 To Get Lost Dog Back
CONCORD (CBS 5) ―
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Lexi the dog was returned to her owner Debby Brown in Concord, after Brown agreed to pay $10,000.
CBS
Lexi the dog is home and the Concord woman who lost her is thrilled, even though she is out $10,000 cash.
Debby Brown said her pet chorkie - a Chihuahua and yorkie mix - went missing Friday night outside the Elephant Bar restaurant on Willow Pass Road in Concord.
Brown said she and her boyfriend went inside the restaurant to get some food to go, leaving Lexi inside the locked car with the air conditioning running.
Somebody broke out the car window and took Lexi, said Brown.
Desperate to get the dog back, Brown and her boyfriend posted fliers all around the Concord area, offering a $10,000 reward, no questions asked. The reward signs also promised not to prosecute if the dog was returned.
They sent similar posts to web sites, including Craigslist. Several people called, but they were all false alarms.
On Sunday, Brown claims, she got a phone call and a subsequent text message with Lexi's photo attached. She knew it was Lexi the moment she got the text, she said.
Brown's boyfriend, who was not available to talk to CBS 5, arranged to meet the people who had Lexi in a Petco parking lot in Alameda early Monday morning. He told Debby to stay home.
Her boyfriend later told Debby that he recognized the man and woman and that they looked just like the couple they observed acting suspiciously outside the restaurant on Friday night.
Brown said her boyfriend gave the couple the cash and retrieved Lexi. Keeping true to their promise, they gave the couple the money -- no questions asked.
A Concord Police investigator later followed up on the case, but the boyfriend refused to give up any details, according to Lt. Andrew Gardner of the Concord Police Department.
"I would not have suggested the victim arrange a meeting like this," said Gardner. "It put them in some physical danger."
Gardner said there has been a string of car burglaries in the area, and that information from the couple could help lead to an arrest of the perpetrator.
Investigators tried to persuade the boyfriend to provide the cell phone number of the alleged dognappers, but he refused, leading investigators to abandon the case.
"The case is now suspended," said Gardner.
Brown said stands by her decision, because she promised not to prosecute. She is convinced that's the only reason she got her dog back.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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