Lombard puppy theft nets Chicago man 42 months in prison
A man with a troubled upbringing was sentenced Thursday to 31/2 years in prison for swiping two Pomeranian puppies from a Lombard pet store in a crime that left one of the dogs dead.
No one was charged with animal cruelty for shooting the 17-week-old puppy with a BB gun because authorities in Will County, where the fatal injury was inflicted, were unable to determine who was responsible.
Dasheik Muhammad-Arnold, 21, of Chicago, faced probation or up to 14 years in prison for committing felony burglary in DuPage County. He pleaded guilty during an earlier court appearance.
His co-defendant, Lydell R. Smith, 21, of Bolingbrook, is due to be paroled in March 2012 for felony theft.
Prosecutor James Scaliatine said the men stole the puppies, a male and female, June 12 from Happiness Is Pets, 616 E. Roosevelt Road, Lombard. Arnold and Smith came into the pet shop earlier that day and, after producing identification, were allowed to play with the pups in a secured area without incident.
Later, after they came back and fled with the dogs, a store employee copied the license plate information off their Ford Taurus. The car was registered to Smith's girlfriend.
Nearly two weeks later, Bolingbrook police received a phone call from a veterinarian at the Arboretum View Animal Hospital in Downers Grove. The veterinarian reported treating a female Pomeranian puppy that died after being shot in the back of the head with a BB gun.
Smith paid with a personal check, which bounced. Officers also identified the slain puppy through a chip scan as one of the two stolen in Lombard.
Police arrested Smith last summer in his Bolingbrook home. Officers also found the male puppy, unharmed, inside his home. Pet shop employees positively identified Smith in a photo lineup. Muhammad-Arnold was arrested later on a warrant.
Smith admitted stealing the puppies as a gift for his mother's birthday, but said it was Muhammad-Arnold who shot one of the dogs. Muhammad-Arnold emphatically denied harming the Pomeranian. He apologized Thursday before DuPage Circuit Judge Perry Thompson sentenced him.
Scaliatine sought a six-year term after detailing Arnold's criminal past, which included a Cook County aggravated vehicular hijacking offense when he was just 15.
His attorney, Brett Cummins, a senior assistant public defender, suggested a better option for society would be to place Muhammad-Arnold in an intensive treatment program while on probation to address his mental health and drug addiction.
The defendant suffered severe childhood abuse and was left to fend for himself while homeless in Chicago at a young age, Cummins said. He said gang members took in Muhammad-Arnold, who began using drugs such as heroin as early as 12.
Muhammad-Arnold is eligible for parole after serving half of his prison term.