A routine Sunday afternoon at a pet store in Centennial turned to chaos as a man grabbed two bulldog puppies by the scruffs of their necks and bolted.
One man in the front of the store fell to the ground, faking a seizure to distract employees, according to surveillance footage released by the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office.
The video shows another man briefly hovering near the scene before walking to the back of the store, opening a kennel, and grabbing two bulldog puppies.
“Hey, what are you doing?” an employee can be heard asking as she moves to intercept the thief. “Hey, no. Stop! Stop! Stop!”
Two employees tried to tackle the man, grabbing at his legs and tripping him. The puppies went flying and the thief scooped them back up before running out the door. The man faking a seizure stayed still, lying on the floor at the front of the store.
The thief, along with another man, then got into a gold Cadillac Escalade with tinted windows and no license plates and sped off. Investigators believe the getaway driver was a woman.
Arapahoe County sheriff’s officials said in a news release that the theft happened at about 1:30 p.m. Sunday in the Perfect Pets store at 6840 South University Boulevard.
Three men walked into the store a few minutes apart, walked around and asked the employees questions about the bulldog puppies kept in a locked pen in the back of the store, each worth $4,300, before staging the distraction, sheriff’s officials said.
One of the puppies returned home Monday night after a woman realized it matched the description of the dogs stolen from Perfect Pets, according to the sheriff’s office.
She told investigators that she purchased the bulldog for $1,500 from a street vendor in north Denver.
Timothy Davis, the 37-year-old man who faked a seizure, was arrested Sunday on suspicion of conspiracy to commit a felony, theft and drug possession, sheriff’s officials said. He’s scheduled to appear in court Thursday afternoon for a filing of charges hearing.
Deputies are still searching for three other suspects: two men who entered the shop around the same time as Davis and the driver of the getaway vehicle.
Anyone with information about the suspects or missing bulldog puppy should contact investigators at 720-874-8477. Tipsters can remain anonymous.
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