A woman who tried claiming the hefty $500,000 reward for returning Lady Gaga's stolen dogs is now being probed by police.
TMZ initially reported that the singer's beloved French bulldogs Koji and Gustav were stolen in a terrifying kidnapping on February 24 earlier this year.
Her dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot four times and rushed to hospital in the theft, but has since made a full recovery.
Now, per BBC News, the Los Angeles Police Department has announced fresh details in the case after they arrested five suspects who are now facing charges.
Three of the people charged - James Jackson, Jaylin White, and Lafayette Whaley - face one count each of attempted murder and robbery.
The other two people – Harold White and Jennifer McBride – face one count each of accessory attempted murder.
White and McBride were reportedly found to be accessories after the initial crime, per LAPD.
Los Angeles District Attorney George Gascón said in a statement on Thursday: "This was a brazen street crime that left a man seriously wounded.
"We have alleged very serious charges in this case and have faith that justice will be appropriately served as this case unfolds in court."
Jackson, who is suspected of shooting the dogwalker, faces additional charges of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and being a felon with a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
The dogs were returned just two days after Gaga put up a $500,000 reward for a safe return.
LAPD said the missing dogs had been returned to a local police station, and later reunited with Gaga's representative.
A woman claimed she had randomly come across the dogs after they were tied up and abandoned in an alley, TMZ initially reported.
However police now understand, the woman was Mcbride.
After McBride surrendered the dogs at the LAPD's Olympic Station, detectives determined that she had a relationship with Harold White.
The LAPD said that McBride "reported that she found the dogs and responded to the reward email to return the dogs", and "ultimately brought the dogs to LAPD Olympic Station".
LAPD says detectives do not believe the suspects were motivated by the fact the dogs were Gaga's. Instead, cops believe suspects were motivated because they allegedly "knew the great value of the breed of dogs".
Gaga's dog walker Fischer last month opened up about his recovery on social media. Sharing an Instagram post from his hospital bed, he wrote:
"I look back at my exit from the hospital and smile that I continue to approach each day the same way.
"The journey is hard, it’s assuredly painful, and questionable choices that no longer serve me like wearing skinny jeans are made. But I try.
"And somewhere within that I find the absurdity and wonder and beauty this life offers us all."
