Police: Neighbors stole Pomeranian to sell for cocaine

The culprits who burglarized a Round Lake Beach man's home in June and stole his white Pomeranian, Gracie, turned out to be the man's own next-door neighbors, authorities said.

On July 25, a warrant was issued for 19-year-old Hugo Moreno, 17-year-old Kevin Cisneros, and a male juvenile who were charged with one count residential burglary and one count of theft.

Bond for the warrant was set at $250,000 and a preliminary hearing and arraignment for the men have been established for August 24 at 1:30 p.m.

Stephen Scheller, chief of felony review for the Lake County state's attorney's office, said the three men had stolen Gracie to sell her for cocaine.

“The value of the dog was $500, and Moreno sold her to another person for $50 worth of crack cocaine,” Scheller said.

Scheller added that no trial date has been set but the three men are expected to appear in court sometime after Labor Day.

Gracie went missing on June 9, the day her owner, Keith Roberts, came home to discover that his house located at the 0-100 block of West Hawthorne Drive had been robbed sometime between 12:30 and 9:30 p.m.

The house had been turned upside down, with a number of coins and power tools also missing.

Roberts owns another black Pomeranian, Cody, and two cats, all of whom were in the house when he returned.

Round Lake Beach police officers with the investigations division, detectives, and members of the special operations unit all searched for Gracie, with no luck.

Nearly two weeks later on June 22, police showed up on Roberts' doorstep with Gracie in their arms, reuniting pet and owner at last, but not revealing how they were able to recover the dog because of the ongoing investigation.

“Anytime that you can resolve a case successfully, it goes to the systems that we have, from the witnesses involved, and the hard work and dedication of the police and investigators who followed through with it,” said Round Lake Beach Deputy Chief Rich Chiarello.