Undercover Police String Recovers 2 Stolen Dogs

Things got a little hairy, but Zelda and Little Tory have been returned to their rightful owner

By Ryan Krull

Oct 20, 2023 at 5:01 pm

Rachel via Flickr

Two French bulldogs — though these two have likely never been the object of a police undercover buy.

Two French bulldogs — Zelda and Little Tory — are safe after being stolen from a Hanley Hills home earlier this week.

Two men allegedly broke in through a window and entered the home of the dogs' owner on Saturday, nabbing the two dogs, who are four months and two years old.

Police officers investigating the missing dogs discovered that two French bulldogs were being sold online for $5,000 each. The dogs' rightful owner established that the dogs listed for sale were the two that had been stolen.

Police arranged an undercover buy of Zelda and Little Tory at an address in the West End.

According to a police probable cause statement, things got tense at the West End sting. Undercover officers began the transaction for one of the dogs. They took a female suspect into custody and secured Zelda, the 2-year-old. The female suspect said the other dog, 4-month-old Little Tory, was being held at a nearby building on Goodfellow Boulevard.

As officers approached that building, they saw Little Tory get thrown from a third-story window. The two male suspects, later identified as James Perry and Landon Allen, attempted to lock themselves in the apartment, but police eventually took them into custody.

According to the female suspect, Perry and Allen had previously bragged about stealing the two dogs. They are now each facing three felonies, including one count of burglary and two counts of stealing.

Little Tory, the dog tossed from the window, suffered injuries, police said, but is expected to survive.

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Ryan Krull

Ryan Krull is a staff writer for the Riverfront Times. Find him on Twitter @ryanwkrull

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