Juliana Mazza was reporting on the story of a stolen dog when she spotted the pup and the suspected thief. The pooch and his owner's emotional reunion was captured on video. The alleged thief was charged with larceny and breaking into a motor vehicle.
A Massachusetts news reporter is being praised for nabbing a suspected dog thief as the cameras were rolling. Juliana Mazza of WHDH-TV was reporting the story of a stolen 13-month-old pointer named Titus — a crime caught on surveillance camera in a Cambridge parking lot.
Suddenly, Mazza saw Titus and motioned to her cameraman to start recording.
“The first thing I did was I asked if I could pet the dog, because I wanted to get down to the nametag to be able to confirm that the name matched the name of the missing dog,” Massa said.
The man who was walking Titus seemed befuddled after Mazza started questioning him. Even more head scratching — it all happened at the parking lot where he allegedly took Titus from the parked car.
“You didn’t think to call the number on the tag?” Mazza asks the man.
“I did, but then I tried using the phone and the phone was broken,” he responded.
Mazza told Inside Edition, “He said that he was supposed to be walking a dog and he somehow grabbed the wrong dog. And 24 hours had gone by, and he never once had tried to call the police or try to call the dog’s owner, whose number is on the back of the dog tag.”
On the spot, Mazza called 911 as the guy stood there.
“Hey dispatcher, this is Juliana over at 7 News. I actually have the dog Titus and the man who said it was an accident that he took the dog,” Mazza said.
Two minutes later, cops arrived and arrested 29-year-old Kyle Gariepy. He was charged with larceny and breaking into a motor vehicle.
What followed was an emotional reunion with the pup’s owner, Greg Siesczkiewicz.
“I’m thrilled to have Titus back. I think he’s glad to have me back,” Siesczkiewicz said.
It was a happy ending, thanks to one very sharp-eyed reporter.
“Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would be the one to find the dog,” Mazza said.
