Police in Los Angeles were searching for a group of alleged dognappers who drove off with a French bulldog while its owner clung to the hood of the car, a spectacle captured by a bystander’s cellphone video.
The theft was reported Jan. 18 in downtown Los Angeles. Owner Ali Zacharias was having lunch about 2:30 p.m outside a Whole Foods market when she noticed the dog had pulled his leash to wander away, she said.
“I look up and there’s a woman holding him,” she said. “She gets into a car behind her.”
Zacharias said she was a little stunned and still trying to comprehend what was happening. Her first thought was that there was some misunderstanding, and she went after the woman and explained the dog, Onyx, was hers.
“The last thing I could do is stand in front of the car,” said Zacharias, who runs a custom clothing business in downtown Los Angeles. “I was trying to put my body there. They drove into me until I fell on the hood. I grabbed onto the window wipers.”
It didn’t stop the driver.
She said there were three women, including the alleged dog thief, and one man, the driver. The vehicle sped off, she said, as she held on, splayed across the hood.
“They were swerving to throw me off,” Zacharias said.
It worked. She was thrown from the hood a few blocks away and suffered cuts and bruises, Zacharias said. Police arrived within two minutes and then took off in an attempt to chase down the vehicle but returned empty handed, she said.
Paramedics arrived and wanted to take her to a medical facility but she refused, Zacharias added.
Over the weekend, as she fielded tips, she was lured into a scam, she said.
A man said he lived at a residence where the dog was being held and said he could help if she could send $50 for gas so he could reach a location where they could meet. He went incommunicado after receiving the money on Sunday, Zacharias said.
Another tipster said he spotted the distinctive-looking French bulldog in a cart with shoppers at a dollar store in Gardena, she said. She thinks the tip may be legitimate because the vehicle had dealer license plate frames that said “Gardena,” Zacharias said.
A Los Angeles Police Department spokesperson had no updates on the case.
Zacharias said LAPD officers were investigating and told her it may be more than a case of dog theft: because she was struck by the vehicle, described as a white Kia Sedan, it may also be a case of assault with a deadly weapon, she said.
Onyx is a little more than 1 year old and has eyes that don’t match in color, making him stand out, Zacharias said. She got him from a breeder in Los Angeles called Boyle Heights Frenchies, she said.
The theft was one of a number of high-profile crimes targeting French bulldogs in Los Angeles. In 2021, two of pop star Lady Gaga’s dogs were taken in a robbery in which their walker was shot and injured in Hollywood.
In a separate case the next year, a 15-year-old boy was charged with armed robbery in connection with the theft of two French bulldogs at gunpoint just east of downtown L.A. The dogs were not recovered at the time.
Even though Zacharias’ efforts to get Onyx back home were extreme, she feels she could have done more.
“Everything I didn’t do is all I can think about,” she said.
