Man pretending to be Good Samaritan steals dog after auto crash

In what could be described as adding insult to injury, an unidentified man allegedly stole a family’s pet Yorkie after an automobile accident that police described as a “violent” car crash.

Sheriff’s deputies in Riverside County, California, are looking for a man, who they said used the cover of a violent auto accident to allegedly steal the family’s dog, a three-year-old Yorkshire terrier. The car driven by a 24-year-old woman, crashed into a street median and landed upside down. As paramedics were removing her and her two-year-old son from the wreckage, their frightened Yorkie, Rizzo, ran out a broken window, said Sgt. Dave Lelevier. Two adults and several children chased down the dog, and were returning it to the scene of the accident, when the man, described as a Latino, five-feet, 11-inches, wearing a white cap, allegedly grabbed the small dog from them, Lelevier said.

He “told them in Spanish that he would return the dog to the owner,” Lelevier said. But he ran away with the dog.

Then he ran away with the dog, Lelevier said. As bad as the accident was, the mother and son were treated at a local hospital for minor injuries and released, authorities said, but:

“…were upset to find out that their family pet had been stolen, police said.”