Suspected Family Of Thieves Sought After Theft Of Chihuahua Puppy Worth USD 7,000

Cops are trying to track trick thieves who managed to steal a Chihuahua puppy from a pet store.

The Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office posted a video of the theft together with the message: Who does this? Seriously… who? These people stole Rosie a 12 week old female Chihuahua from Puppy Buddy Pet Store in #BocaRaton. See if you can spot how one distracted while the other took the puppy. If you know who these people are, please let us know. We need Rosie back."

The video was taken by the store's in house CCTV which was then handed over to police to help track down the thieves.

They said the theft happened at the Puppy Buddy Pet Store, 9858 Clint Moore Road, Boca Raton, on 30 October in the late afternoon.

Police were called after staff reported that the 12-week-old female Chihuahua had been stolen after a family of four had gone into the store and distracted staff, upon which a woman had reached into the puppy pen and grabbed the 12-week-old female Chihuahua, named Rosie, which she then stuffed inside her purse.

The family including the adult woman and then walked out of the store without paying for it, resulting in a loss of the valuable dog worth USD 7,000.

The video seems to show another woman deliberately positioning herself to conceal the theft, while a man in a yellowish coloured shirt remained outside but was clearly part of the group.

A small boy also accompanied the suspects and police suspect that this may be the child of the female seen in a black blouse.

Police were later able to find out that the suspects had arrived at the scene in a maroon 2021-2022 Chrysler Pacifica.

They said the puppy pictured was brown and white and had been in the play area at the time she was snatched.

Staff insisted that the damage was however worse than the financial cost because they took care to place puppies with appropriate families in order to make sure they had a good future.

They said it was therefore especially heartbreaking that one would be stolen and appealed to the public to contact the police and get the puppy returned safely.

Police have asked anyone that might be able to help identify the thieves or knows the whereabouts of the puppy to contact them on the local Crimestoppers.

@PBCountySheriff/NF/James King