'Give me my puppy back!': Little girl tells how stranger walked up, stole family dog from sister



TACOMA, Wash. -- Eight-year-old Diamondrose and 6-year-old Devine love playing outside with their puppy, Roxy.  They keep her cage clean. They keep her bowl full of dog food.

And now they’re keeping their little hearts open to the idea that someday, their stolen Roxy will come home.

The man "just came out of nowhere and he came up to us, he said, ‘Cute dog, can I pet him?’ And Diamond said, ‘No’,” says Devine.

The two sisters say Monday afternoon that two men slowly drove past their home in Northeast Tacoma. The car made a U-turn and one man hopped out, approaching the girls.

“Diamond was holding her. He pulled her by the collar and then picked her up like this and he was squeezing her stomach,” says Devine.

After ripping Roxy from Diamond’s arms, the two sisters say the man hopped back into the waiting car with the puppy.

“I was like, give me my puppy back! And we said, Daddy, Daddy!" says Devine.

“Once I heard the kids screaming, I said, hey what! She said somebody stole the dog! I’m like what? I shot out, ran as fast as I could all the way to the street,” says the father, Donald.

He says he hopped into his car and tried to follow the thieves, but it was too late -- they were gone. So he called Tacoma police.

Q13 News tagged along as Donald and his daughters door-knocked neighbors, hoping surveillance cameras might have captured something. His neighbor Tony thinks his camera may have caught the thieves in the act and he plans to email that video to Donald.

“I hope this guy doesn’t do this to somebody else’s daughter.  I don’t want nobody else to feel this type of pain,” says Donald.

“We’re waiting for her and we want to see her again,” says Devine.

The suspect who stole the puppy is described as a tall, light-skinned male, possible Pacific Islander, with a bun in his hair. They described the driver as a dark-skinned male. Again, the car is a newer-looking pearl white Toyota or Nissan.

The one thing the Tacoma Police Department stresses is the girls did the right thing. They screamed and ran for their dad. Tacoma PD says talk to your kids about always trusting their gut. If you feel something is suspicious, go in the house immediately and get an adult.

Roxy is a pit bull puppy with a white chest and white paws.  She has a distinctive small bald circle on the top of her head.

Please call 9-1-1 if you see Roxy.  If you wish to remain anonymous, submit a tip to crime stoppers, by using the p-3 tips app on your phone or by calling 1-800-222-tips (8477).