Trending

Brazen thief on scooter steals dog from New York family

NEW YORK — A New York City family is pleading for help to find their dog after surveillance video shows a man on a scooter taking the puppy away in broad daylight.

>> Read more trending news

Surveillance video obtained by WABC shows a man on a scooter approach and brazenly take the dog from 75-year-old Carlos Gil, who was standing outside with two dogs. Gil had been standing outside with the puppy, a 10-month-old mixed-breed dog named Off-White, along with a second dog, when the man on the scooter rode up.

“He starts petting the dog, pulling the dog, pulling him up,” Alonso Gil, Carlo’s nephew, told WNBC. “My uncle tried to jump in front of the scooter to stop the guy, but he just like swerved around him and took off on the sidewalk down the block.”

Carlos Gil told WABC that he tried to save the dog. He told the station, in Spanish, “When he took off on his bike, I tried to push him. He rushed away, but I thought he was going to hit a pole. Because I wanted to take him out.”

The family said it is devastated by the theft, with Carlos telling WCBS he can’t sleep at night since Off-White was taken.

See the surveillance video, courtesy of WABC:

“It’s weird to say because I know people look at it like, ‘Oh, it’s a dog,’” Alonso told WNBC. “But it’s like a person to us. He’s very much like a baby in the house. He is very sweet, very friendly, a little shy sometimes too. So he has his own personality and everything.”

In an email, New York City police confirmed they are investigating the theft. The family is offering a $2,000 reward for the dog’s safe return, WCBS reported.

“If anyone does know the person or knows where the dog is, the dog can be dropped off at a park around people, at a police station,” Alonso told WCBS. “Nobody really has to get in trouble or show their face. We would just like to have him back.”