An 11-year-old Rhodesian Ridgeback and Pit Bull mix was forcibly taken away after two thieves brutally attacked the dog’s owner at a 7-Eleven store in North Hollywood on Tuesday (September 26).
The incident was spotted video and was republished by Kriskelly Foundation on Instagram. The disturbing video shows two people, a man and a woman, attacking the owner and attempting to steal the dog, named Drake.
The man can be seen forcibly removing the leashed dog from its owner’s hands while the woman stomped and beat the owner.
CBS News reports that the dog’s owner entered the convenience store shortly before the suspects began their “apparently unprovoked” attack.
According to ABC7Detective Ryan Lee of the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said in an interview that the owner “was approached by a suspect, a woman and a man, who indicated they did not like the way she was treating her dog.”
However, after police reviewed the video footage, they saw no indication that the owner was mistreating the dog.
“There were no further words exchanged. The victim then went to use the vending machine located inside the market. And then, with her back turned, she was attacked. » » the LAPD detective continued.
Two days after the attack, Drake was finally reunited with his owner, after being located at a sober living home in Orange County.
ABC 7 reports that the home’s operators recognized Drake on the news and confronted the tenants who had the dog in their possession.
The suspects then fled, leaving the dog with the house guards. The operators then contacted the Orange County Sheriff’s Department, who in turn contacted the Los Angeles Police Department.
The identities of the suspects have not been released and an LAPD spokesperson said the motive for the incident remains unknown.
Detective Lee of the LAPD said: “A Rhodesian Ridgeback pit bull mix isn’t necessarily something that’s highly coveted among some of the thieves that are out there. So we’re working to try to understand the pattern.