ST PAUL, Minn. — An St. Paul teen is charged with stealing and attempting to sell a 7-year-old French Bulldog Terrier mix after pushing over the owner during a walk last week on St. Paul's east side, according to court documents.
A criminal complaint shows Lonnie Ray Jenkins, 18, faces first-degree aggravated robbery charges after prosecutors say he and another person stole the dog, named Clementine, on April 24.
Greta Deane, the dog's owner, said she was reunited with Clementine two days later, but said Clementine was "pretty beat up."
Court documents say the two men teamed up to steal the dog on Deane's front footsteps at around 4 p.m. that day. One of the men then pushed Deane to the ground while the other grabbed Clementine, according to court documents.
Prosecutors say Deane's knee was scraped and her pants were torn.
According to the complaint, surveillance video showed the two men walking in the neighborhood and hopping into a maroon SUV. Deane posted flyers around the city and later got a call from someone claiming to have seen Clementine on the 500 block of Selby Avenue. The person said he was "100% certain the dog he saw was Clementine," court documents read.
The tipster said a man asked if he was interested in buying a French Bulldog for $700, and took him into the bottom unit of a residence on Selby Avenue. The person said the dog was older, without a collar and "appeared to be sick and lethargic." The man left without buying the dog and then stopped at a nearby store where he saw a flyer with Clementine's picture on it and called police.
The complaint states that on April 26, officers searched the residence and found Clementine on the living room couch. Phone data pinned Jenkins to the scene where Clementine was stolen, and officers were able to determine that Jenkins lived at the residence where Clementine was found.
St. Paul police confirm they caught up with Lonnie Ray Jenkins and arrested him on Tuesday. Prosecutors say he was also wanted in connection with a series of aggravated robberies in Minneapolis.
Watch more local news:
Watch the latest local news from the Twin Cities and across Minnesota in our YouTube playlist:
WATCH MORE ON KARE 11+
Download the free KARE 11+ app for Roku, Fire TV, Apple TV and other smart TV platforms to watch more from KARE 11 anytime! The KARE 11+ app includes live streams of all of KARE 11's newscasts. You'll also find on-demand replays of newscasts; the latest from KARE 11 Investigates, Breaking the News and the Land of 10,000 Stories; exclusive programs like Verify and HeartThreads; and Minnesota sports talk from our partners at Locked On Minnesota.
- Add KARE 11+ on Roku here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Roku Channel Store.
- Add KARE 11+ on Fire TV here or by searching for KARE 11 in the Amazon App Store.
- Learn more about the KARE 11+ app for Apple TV in the Apple App Store.
- Learn more about KARE 11+ here.