Stolen poodle rescued in Nampa; juvenile is suspected in theft

Published: December 13, 2012 

Boise police released photos of a poodle and two women who are suspected of stealing it.

Boise Police Department

A distinctively marked toy poodle stolen from a truck in Boise last week has been found safe.

A Nampa juvenile is accused of stealing 2-year-old Dallas, according to the Boise Police Department. Three people saw someone walking Dallas and recognized the dog's orange dye job from news and social media reports and called police Thursday evening.

"Boise P.D. just happened to be in Nampa because they were following up another lead that turned out not to be the case," said Lynn Hightower, Boise police spokeswoman.

Police would not release the gender or age of the suspect, but Dallas' owner, 22-year-old Samantha Simonds, said a detective told her it's a 15-year-old girl and that a family member had been walking the dog. The suspect was not arrested; rather police will forward their reports to prosecutors who will decide on charges, Hightower said.

Officer reunited Dallas with Simonds before 7 p.m. Thursday. The search for Dallas gained community-wide attention after Simonds reported the dog missing Friday from the Wal-Mart on Overland Road in Boise. She created a Facebook page and posted an ad on Craigslist.

The next day, she heard from a woman who said she saw the dog at Wal-Mart in Nampa with two women Friday night, about two hours after the theft.

Boise police initially said the dog was stolen from the back of the truck but have since confirmed he was inside the cab of the truck when someone snatched him.

Surveillance photos from the Nampa Wal-Mart released Tuesday showed two women with the dog, but police said Thursday that only one person is a suspect.

Simonds said Dallas is dirty and appears to have been fed low quality food, but he's otherwise healthy. He is slowly adjusting back to home, where his mother, Ava, and sister, Cherri, also live. A fourth toy poodle, Bruno, also lives with Simonds and her husband.

Simonds said she's angry at the suspect but "I haven't really thought about what I want to say to her, because it doesn't involve nice words."

"I almost have worse things to say to her parents," Simonds added.

Simonds said she hopes the girl "learns a really good lesson from this."

"That's a pretty low thing to do to somebody," she said.

Simonds operates a grooming salon for cats and dogs in Meridian but said she hasn't been able to work since Dallas was stolen.

"Me and my husband have not slept or eaten," Simonds said. "We've not spent a minute that wasn't devoted to finding Dallas."

A Facebook page dedicated to the search had nearly 1,000 fans as of Thursday night, and a reward was up to $2,100 thanks to donations. Simonds said she expects to split the reward between the three witnesses.

Order Reprint Back to Top

Top Jobs

View All Top Jobs

Find a Home

$3,390,000 Boise
5 bed, 9 full bath. TAKE THE VIRTUAL TOUR! 3 of the best...

Find a Car

Search New Cars
Ads by Yahoo!