HILLSIDE, N.J. — Police in New Jersey are searching for a dog that was in a car that was stolen in a supermarket parking lot.
Suspects are in custody, but the dog is nowhere to be found.
“Please, if you know anything about my dog … my baby … his name is Baby,” owner Mayrelis Rodriguez said. “Please, just help me get him back.”
Police say Rodriquez’s 14-year-old Maltese was in the family car when he was stolen at a Bloomfield Stop & Shop parking lot on Monday morning.
Her boyfriend said he left Baby in their locked black Infinity while he went in the store.
“The door was locked. They busted the back window,” Isai Torres said. “I went inside to buy her some medicine and some groceries, and came back out and the car was gone with the dog in it.”
Police recovered the black Infinity on Tuesday in Hillside soon after investigators say it crashed into a police car in Cranford.
Baby was not in the car.
Then, officers brought a man handcuffed into the Hillside Police Department.
Bloomfield police say two suspects were involved, arriving at the Stop & Shop in another car. Investigators are still trying to figure how the suspects stole the Infinity with Baby in it.
“The owner was in possession of the key fob, so we believe the car was running. Maybe this certain type of vehicle .. when you hit the brake, it doesn’t shut off. We are researching that with Infinity right now,” Bloomfield Police Director Samuel DeMaio said.
“He’s my child. That’s my baby. That’s my baby and I want him back,” Rodriguez said.
Police have reached out to area shelters, and the family is offering a $500 reward for any information leading them to their dog. Meanwhile, it is illegal in New Jersey to leave a dog unattended in a car under inhumane conditions. However, police say they’re still investigating the circumstances of the case.
Sources told CBS2 on Tuesday afternoon the suspects would not tell investigators where the dog is. There was no immediate word on whether anyone has been charged.
