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Mom In Jail After Allegedly Coaching Kids To Steal Puppy

Posted: 4:42 pm EDT July 18, 2007Updated: 1:09 pm EDT July 19, 2007

Thursday morning, a St. Cloud mother was in jail for allegedly using her kids to steal an expensive puppy. After Channel 9 aired surveillance video of the kids in action, police were flooded with tips from viewers and that led to the mother's arrest.


SLIDESHOW: Surveillance Images Show Children Steal Puppy
RAW SURVEILLANCE: Children Steal Puppy As Mom Watches

The mother, Tami Loechner, was arrested Wednesday evening. Channel 9 viewers who saw the surveillance video on Eyewitness News at 5:00 called police and identified the 28-year-old woman.

"It was amazing to me how many phone calls came in right away and they all pointed straight to her," said Lt. Shalyn Somers with the St. Cloud Police Department.

Loechner, a mother of four, said nothing as she was walked into the Osceola County jail. Police said the family of thieves got away with a Boston terrier worth $800. The mother held a baby in her arms while the other three children pulled off the heist.

Surveillance video shows the children walk over to a corner bin and pick up a 10-week-old Boston terrier. The whole time, there were four cameras on them and they knew it.

Loechner, a mother of four, said nothing as she was walked into the Osceola County jail.

One young boy brought in the bag, while another located the cameras.

"There's a camera," the boy can be heard saying on the surveillance video.

But it was the oldest, a girl, who waited for the manager to turn his head to shove the $800 puppy into a sack. The white of the puppy's head can be seen on the video as they walk out the door.

"They were very schooled. They knew where the cameras were. They kept walking back and forth to the parent, asking for info," said store manager Juan Cotto.

Cotto said, if not for the surveillance video, he wouldn't believe the kids had robbed him. But the video shows they spent nearly half an hour setting up the crime, playing with the puppies and picking out the one the store's owner said was least likely to bark.

"They probably thought, 'We'll take this one. She's a quiet one,'" store owner Melba Cotto said.

St. Cloud police said the children were clearly under their mother's orders.

"The children are very young and they are doing, it appears, exactly what mom asked them to," said Lt. Somers.

"She looks okay. She's a little bit dirty in the nose, but she looks okay," said Melba Cotto after the stolen puppy was returned to her.

The dog was safe and sound with the owners of the pet store thanks to Eyewitness News viewers who called police with tips after the story aired on Wednesday at 5:00pm. They are glad the $800 dog is okay, but still worried about the kids involved.

"She needs to understand it's not alright," Cotto said.

St. Cloud Police said they would take no action against the children. They said that, if the mother went to jail, they would place the children with relatives.

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