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Home cameras foil dog-knapping caper

Donna Fox and Glen Hix hold two of 10 German shepherd puppies. One of the puppies was taken last weekend, but she was found thanks to their security system. Staff photo by Gary Stelzer

GARY STELZER/MBR Donna Fox and Glen Hix hold two of 10 German shepherd puppies. One of the puppies was taken last weekend, but she was found thanks to their security system. Staff photo by Gary Stelzer

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By Jessica Heffner, Staff Writer Updated 12:38 AM Monday, March 28, 2011

MIDDLETOWN — Police have collared two people who they say stole a puppy out of the owner’s backyard.

Donna Fox said she thought her boyfriend, Glenn Hicks, was joking when he told her one of her 10 German shepherd puppies was missing from her home on Grimes Street the night of March 20.

After checking her 9-week-old brood, Fox said she found the mother dog, Lady, agitated, and a little black female puppy her granddaughter had named Ava, missing.

“I didn’t know what to think,” she said.

For most people, their next move would be searching the neighborhood and posting “Lost Dog” signs.

But thanks to four recently installed surveillance cameras at Fox’s home, all she had to do was look at the footage.

The cameras — an impulse buy from a friend after someone keyed her car — run continuously and record onto a DVR.

After an hour, Fox and Hicks said they noticed something strange — several young adults hanging around the fence. In one scene, a woman seems to pull something from the yard and dash with her companions to a waiting red Pontiac Sunfire.

“After watching the video, it broke my heart that somebody could steal a person’s dog,” Fox said.

The couple immediately called police.

Officer Chris Kelly watched the video, took a report and left. Fox said she thought that was it.

A few hours later, Fox noticed the officer had a red Pontiac Sunfire pulled over up the street.

“We get up the street and the police say, ‘Is this who it was?’ and I knew it was (the same people) from the video,” Hicks said.

Kelli McNutt, 21, and Sean Adner, 21, both of Middletown, were arrested in connection with the dog-knapping.

When questioned by authorities, both gave written statements about the theft, according to the police. They reportedly took Ava to a family in Springfield who wanted a puppy, according to the police report.

McNutt was charged with petty theft, and Adner was charged with complicity to petty theft. Both cases are pending in Middletown Municipal Court.

Fox said she contacted the family who received Ava and ended up selling her to them. She said she is grateful for the police’s quick action and hopes people will think twice before taking someone’s pet.

“I just hope they have learned their lesson about stealing before they end up in prison,” Fox said. “You never know who has cameras on their house.”

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