A news team captured the moment a missing dog was found safe after the man accused of stealing it stopped for an interview.
On Saturday (May 8), 7NEWS reporter Juliana Mazza and her camera crew were out in Cambridge, Boston, covering the story of a 13-month-old German Short Haired Pointer named Titus that had gone missing on Friday.
Per WHDH, the Cambridge Police Department was on the hunt for a man who had been caught on surveillance footage with Titus, after the dog was reportedly taken from a parked car belonging to owner Greg Siesczkiewicz.
Then, as the 7NEWS crew was filming at the scene of the alleged dognapping, they spotted Titus being walked by 29-year-old Kyle Gariepy.
Watch the encounter in the video below:Mazza stopped Gariepy, instructed her cameraman to start rolling, and conducted an interview about why he had taken the dog.
Gariepy told Mazza: "He was just barking in the car and I walked past the car and I thought it was supposed to be a dog I was dog walking."
The suspect then added: "It wasn’t a kidnapping it was just a simple mistake". However, when Mazza questioned Gariepy over why he hadn't called the number on Titus' tag, the suspect simply said that he had tried, but the phone was broken.
In the report, Mazza can be seen calling the police to inform them that they had found the missing dog.
When police arrived at the scene, Gariepy was arrested and charged with larceny of more than $1,200 and breaking and entering into a vehicle to commit a felony.
Officer also brought along Siesczkiewicz, who was able to have an emotional reunion with his beloved pet.
Speaking to the 7NEWS team, Siesczkiewicz said: "I’m just glad that the person came back and I’m just glad that you guys were there. If anyone ever sees this who question the value of media, social media, broadcast media, this proves it."
Writing about the chance encounter on her Twitter page, Mazza said: "Today I was on the job looking into a stolen dog in #Cambridge. I NEVER could’ve imagined that my photog & I would be the ones to actually FIND him!
"Happy to report we stopped the suspect (whose been arrested) & helped get #Titus back to his dog dad AND IT’S ALL ON CAMERA".
On the Cambridge Police Twitter page, the following statement was issued: "The dog that was reported stolen and the suspect that we were looking to identify have both been located.
"Titus has been reunited with his owner. The suspect has been taken into custody."
