Only on CBSLA: Family reunited with 12-week-old puppy days after dog was stolen
A Walnut family can breathe a sigh of relief on Saturday thanks to some good Samaritans who dropped off their Goldendoodle at the Los Angeles County Sheriffs Department's Walnut/Diamond Bar station.
It's unclear at this moment who dropped off Sawyer, a 12-week-old puppy who was taken from his owner's arms, and how the person found the dog. In a video obtained by CBSLA, surveillance video showed the moment Sawyer was abducted.
The family believes that thanks to the reporting by CBSLA, a woman walked into the sheriff's station and dropped of Sawyer.
"It's overwhelming," Joe Ortiz told CBSLA Anchor Jasmine Viel. "It's been a long two days."
Ortiz said that the woman who returned Sawyer did not give much information to the sheriffs.
"They asked her, 'where did you find him?," Ortiz said. "She said that someone handed her the dog and told her to drop it off at the Walnut Sheriff's station. I'm grateful that the people who took him, saw the footage and they saw their car on the news and didn't want to get prosecuted."
In video you can only see on CBSLA and CBS2/KCAL9, you can see the moment Sawyer is reunited with his family.
Eva Ortiz was with Sawyer on Thursday waiting for her son's karate class to end in Diamond Bar.
Then a man approached Ortiz and asked to pet her dog. The man then grabbed the puppy and ran into an awaiting car and took off.
The family told CBSLA Reporter Jeff Nguyen that Sawyer has been a source of relief and comfort for their 11-year-old son, Devan.
"It's given him someone to wake up to. Someone to play with. Someone to call his best friend," Eva Ortiz said.
The getaway car is believed to have been a 2017-18 Charger with black tinted windows, black rims and a spoiler on the trunk.
Fortunately for the Ortiz family, Sawyer is back home with his family, which includes his mother and brother.
