A puppy valued at nearly $1,200 that was snatched last week from a Roseville pet store is back where it belongs.
Police on Monday arrested two men who took a 3-pound female Shih Tzu from the Har Mar Pet Shop at 2100 Snelling Av. N., said Lt. Lorne Rosand of the Roseville Police Department.
An alert shopkeeper from a neighboring Famous Footwear heard a commotion as the suspects ran from the store carrying the dog and jotted down the license plate of a red Pontiac Aztek SUV in which the men sped away.
Police traced the license plate, and on Monday plainclothes Roseville detectives went to the Minneapolis address of the vehicle's registered owner. When detectives knocked on the front door and looked through a window, they saw the stolen dog running loose in the living room. Moments later, the red SUV, occupied by two men who fit the description of the dognappers, stopped in front of the house. Both suspects were arrested without incident and the Shih Tzu was returned to the pet store's owner, Rosand said.
A police report said the suspects entered the store at 11:45 a.m. Jan. 19 and asked if they could hold the dog. Both men gave a store employee an ID. After returning the puppy to its kennel and getting their IDs back, one of the men left the store. The other stayed behind and asked if he could hold the dog one more time, but he did not supply his ID.
He then took the puppy, bolted out the door and got in the Aztek, which was parked near the Famous Footwear store.
One of the suspects said the Shih Tzu was going to be sold on Craigslist, Rosand said.
The suspects were booked at the Ramsey County jail on probable cause felony theft.
