Florida man accused of stealing Colorado airman's dog while housesitting arrested in Miami-Dade, sheriff's office says
Weeks after a housesitter from Florida reportedly stole a Colorado airman's car and dog – leaving the pet to die – deputies with the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office say he was arrested early Saturday morning.
The sheriff's office said deputies initially responded to a medical call along Southwest 152nd Street around 3:40 a.m. However, the suspect – identified as 28-year-old Andrew Lee Jansen – reportedly tried to interfere with first responders from Miami-Dade Fire Rescue. That was when deputies were called in to assist. Jansen then reportedly ran off to avoid being captured.
After searching the area, MDSO said they issued a notice to other deputies in the area to look for Jansen. The sheriff's office said an off-duty deputy working at Jackson South Hospital spotted Jansen when he went there to check on his father and took him into custody.
Jansen is now at the Turner Guilford Knight Correctional Center, awaiting extradition to Colorado.
A plea for help
Jansen faced scrutiny after Andrew Beckham said Jansen stole his car and 11-year-old husky named Maverick while housesitting in Aurora, Colorado. Beckham used Trusted Housesitters based on a recommendation and matched with Jansen. Beckham said he did so because he learned he was to be deployed overseas by the Colorado Air National Guard.
"He wanted to see if Colorado would be a good option for him later on," Beckham told CBS News Colorado in April.
At first, Beckham said everything appeared to be going well. He said Jansen was consistently texting and sending pictures of Maverick. But that reassurance quickly turned into fear.
"It looks like a happy image, it's not," Beckham said of a selfie of Jansen and Maverick. "That's a very scary image for me. That is the face of somebody lying to me."
About a month into Jansen's stay, Beckham said the sitter suddenly stopped responding to messages. From overseas, Beckham logged into his home security camera.
"All I saw was on my Nest doorbell camera that he dragged Maverick out of the door, walked to the car, backed out and drove away. I never saw anything else after that," he said.
A tragic development
Beckham said Jansen did not take any of Maverick's food or medication. Neither the dog nor the vehicle had been seen until early in May, when police in Denver told him that his car was found in a parking garage.
Maverick was found dead inside, trapped within.
"He was trapped in the car for a long time," said Beckham. "He had a lot of blood on his face. They're still trying to figure out why and what happened."
A felony warrant for Jansen's arrest was filed by Aurora Police for motor vehicle theft and general theft. Beckham said he wanted to make sure Jansen was caught.
"If [Jansen] were house-sitting again, I think people need to know. If [Jansen is] using other agencies, people need to know. Because he made Maverick suffer a lot," Beckham said.
Beckham hopes other dog owners practice caution when hiring anyone to care for their best friend.
"Do yourself a favor and just pay some extra money to do a background check on somebody," he said.
A spokesperson for Trusted Housesitters sold CBS News Miami earlier in May "We are very saddened to learn about Maverick. Our thoughts are with Andrew Beckham at this incredibly difficult time. Our priority is continuing to support Andrew. We are fully cooperating with local law enforcement and their efforts with the investigation. Our team has been following developments closely and we will continue to do so."
On May 4, Miami-Dade Sheriff's deputies told CBS News Miami they went to Jansen's last known address in Palmetto Bay. They knocked on the door, but at the time were unable to make contact with anyone there. CBS News Miami also stopped at the residence, but no one answered when we knocked.