French Bulldog Taken in Weekend Crime Spree
Sheriff’s deputies are looking for Tito the dog, who was taken at gunpoint as a woman was walking with her mother on Norbridge Road near Dawe Avenue around 5:30 p.m. this past Saturday.
A Castro Valley family lost their 15-month-old French bulldog and later their car following a brazen robbery at gunpoint by suspects driving a dark-colored SUV.
Sheriff’s deputies are looking for Tito the dog, who was taken at gunpoint as a woman was walking with her mother on Norbridge Road near Dawe Avenue around 5:30 p.m. this past Saturday. The women told deputies that five young men, three with guns jumped from a black SUV, 2019 KIA Niro, pulled over in front of them as they were walking westbound.
The suspects demanded the dog along with the victim’s purse and car keys. Deputies report that the suspects later returned to the victim’s Castro Valley home about 9:45 p.m. and stole her car from her driveway. Deputies canvassed the area and confirmed the car thieves were driving the same KIA using retrieved video footage from locations in the area.
“The family just wants the dog back,” Sheriff’s deputy spokesperson Lieutenant Ray Kelly said in a statement. “We are hoping the robbers will do the right thing and drop him off at a safe location where he can be found and reunited with his family.”
Saturday’s dognapping was the second time in as many days that a dark-colored vehicle with several armed individuals jumped unsuspecting victims in Castro Valley. The KIA is also a reported stolen vehicle from the Oakland Police Department which has been involved in several robberies with firearms.
On Friday, January 14, deputies investigated a robbery that occurred in the parking lot adjacent to the pool on the south side of Castro Valley High School.
A teenager said he and two friends, were robbed at gunpoint by three unidentified males.
Deputies report one of the suspects brandished a black semi-automatic handgun and took a wallet, and a phone. The suspect demanded the victim remove his shoes which were approximately $600 and $200 from his wallet.
All three suspects returned to their vehicle which was described as a black four-door sedan. As the suspects fled the parking lot, the armed suspect fired one shot into the air. Deputies later retrieved a single 9mm shell casing located in the parking lot.
The suspects were last seen driving southbound on Redwood Road.
Lt. Kelly said detectives are considering that the two crimes are related as the suspects in both cases included multiple suspects, some armed, driving dark-colored vehicles, and demanding high-value items.
If you have info on either of these crimes, please call the Alameda County Sheriff's Office at 510-667-7721