Men accused of stealing puppies, later killing one
Two young men are accused of swiping two Pomeranian puppies from a Lombard pet store in a crime that ended up with one of the dogs dead.
Police still are trying to determine who fatally shot the 17-week-old female puppy with a BB gun, which inflicted a fatal head injury, but they said animal cruelty charges are anticipated against the culprit.
So far, Lydell R. Smith and Dasheik Muhammad-Arnold, both 20, are charged with theft, retail theft and burglary. A DuPage County grand jury indicted the men Tuesday.
Smith, of the 500 block of Hampshire in Bolingbrook, remained held Thursday in the DuPage County jail on a $50,000 bond. Muhammad-Arnold, of the 7600 block of S. Essex in Chicago, is wanted on a $50,000 arrest warrant.
Lombard Deputy Chief Dane Cuny said the two men stole the Pomeranian puppies, a male and female, about 8 p.m. June 12 from Happiness Is Pets, 616 E. Roosevelt Road. He said the men came into the pet shop nearly four hours earlier that day and, after producing identification, were allowed to play with pups in a secured area, without incident.
Later, after the suspects came back and fled with the dogs, a store employee was able to copy the license plate information off their Ford Taurus. Police immediately were alerted to the dognapping, but the car was registered to Smith's girlfriend.
Lombard police tried to track down Smith and Muhammad-Arnold.
Nearly two weeks later, at 8 p.m. June 25, officers in Bolingbrook, where Smith lives, received a phone call from a veterinarian at the Arboretum View Animal Hospital in Downers Grove. The veterinarian reported treating a cream-colored female Pomeranian puppy that died after being shot in the back of the head with a BB gun.
The animal hospital reported Smith's personal check as payment for the pup's treatment bounced, Bolingbrook police Cmdr. Ken Teppel said.
As Bolingbrook police investigated the puppy's death, Lombard police contacted them for assistance tracking down Smith. Officers also identified the slain puppy through a chip scan as one of the two stolen in Lombard. Pet shop employees positively identified Smith in a photo lineup, Teppel said.
Armed with a warrant, authorities said they discovered Smith on June 30 hiding in his attic. They said officers found the male puppy unharmed inside Smith's home. Muhammad-Arnold remains on the lam, but police believe him to be somewhere in the Chicago area.
"Smith claims he brought home the two puppies as a present for his mother," Teppel said. "He blamed a neighbor for the (female) dog's injury. We are attempting to build a case against them for animal cruelty. We're trying to figure out who shot the dog. Hopefully, when we arrest (Muhammad-Arnold), we'll be able to interview him and find out more then."
If charged with animal cruelty, the defendants would be prosecuted in Will County for that crime because that's where Smith's house is located.
The DuPage County charges stem only from the pet store burglary. The puppies are valued at $600 each.
Police said they returned the male puppy to Happiness Is Pets, whose employees did not respond Wednesday or Thursday to requests for comment.