Police looking for dog stolen from ER nurse

Police in Concord, California are asking for the public’s help in finding a puppy that was stolen from a family’s home. The dog belonged to an ER nurse, who said the 11-week-old Mlinois was taken from her house around 10:00 a.m. on Saturday.

The Concord Police Department posted about the dog, Max, on Facebook, writing “Warning, you are about to get really mad.” The post included security footage of the suspect in the homeowner’s driveway, picking up the dog and riding off on a bicycle. The suspect wore a face mask and gloves.

“The suspect is described as an adult male, wearing a dark hooded sweatshirt (red patches on elbows), dark ball cap, blue jeans, dark shoes, and blue rubber gloves. He carried Max away from the area riding a gold and white bicycle,” the department wrote. 

Anyone with information about Max’s whereabouts or the suspect can contact Concord Dispatch at (925) 671-3333 and refer to case #20-4193, the department said. 

On Monday, the department posted clearer photos of the suspect, taken from the security footage. Again, they asked anyone who recognizes the suspect to Concord PD’s Financial Crimes Unit.

Soon, people from Concord and beyond began using the hashtag #FindMax on social media, reposting the department’s photos of the dog and the suspect.

In an email to CBS News, the Concord Police Department said all they could confirm was that the dog’s owner worked in a hospital. “Our detectives are still actively working the case, but there is no further update to the details yet,” the department said.

In an interview with local affiliate, KTVU, Shaila Mahler, an ER nurse at Eden Medical Center, said she was Max’s owner. Mahler’s family only had the dog for two weeks before he was stolen on Saturday after she had left for work, she said. It was the first time she left Max alone, she told KTVU. 

When her mother, who was supposed to dog sit Max, texted Mahler that the dog was gone, she checked the security footage. “I was shocked and my heart just really dropped,” Mahler said. “I had a complete nausea in my stomach.”

Mahaler said the dog was an early birthday present for her 4-year-old son, and she hasn’t been able to tell her children about what happened to the puppy.

Now she’s worried that her puppy won’t be properly taken care of, or will be used in dog fighting. “We don’t want that,” said Mahler. “Our goal was to have him as a loving family dog that could provide security.”

Mahler has experienced other thefts since moving to the home in February, and wonders if it was the same culprit, according to KTVU. She believes this theft may have been planned.

Mahler said Max has pointy ears and a black and white ring around his tail. She’s offering a cash reward, KTVU reports. “If you are the person who took my dog, we are not home right now just drop him off in the backyard,” she said.