A 10-week-old Yorkshire Terrier named “Tinkerbell” stolen from a family shopping at an Antioch Target store has been recovered and returned to its grateful humans.
An Antioch family reported being approached by two people who complimented them on the dog while the family shopped at a Target store in the 5700 Block of Lone Tree Way at 3:12p.m. on Dec. 26, the pair abruptly snatching the dog and fleeing the area by car.
Investigators determined the dog was a gift for the family’s 3-year-old daughter. Officers were able to identify the car used during the theft and developed information on two suspects, Isiah Kingstringer, 20, and Zoie Ledesma, 21.
On December 27, an Antioch police officer aware of the theft located the suspect’s car as it traveled through the city and conducted a traffic stop, subsequently towing the car as part of the investigation and arresting Kingstringer and Ledesma on warrants when they arrived at police headquarters to retrieve the car later that day.
Follow-up interviews with the suspects were able to determine Tinkerbell’s location with officers recovering the pup and returning her to her family.
Kingstringer and Ledesma were booked into the Contra Costa County Jail on the following charges:
• PC 487A(a) – Grand theft of an animal
• PC 532(a) – Theft by false pretenses
• PC 182(a)(1) – Conspiracy
The investigation into the theft is ongoing.
Ed. Note: Antioch is a bit out of our usual area of coverage but we were interested in the notion of people making off with someone’s dog. ContraCostaNews – who does cover Antioch more energetically – questioned the department’s release of such a story, referring to it as “fluff,” while not releasing information on “4 shootings, multiple robberies, assaults or other crimes.” CCNews says police are not informing the community about actual crime in their area. While we were glad to hear Tinkerbell was found and returned home, we hope officials are equally forthcoming about other crimes of note in their area.
Awwww
Suckers for a good Boxing Day Puppy Story…