A Pinole woman is incredibly grateful to be reunited with her French bulldog after Chanel was stolen during a terrifying home invasion last week.
A Ring video showed three armed and masked men just before they broke in through the Pinole family’s front door last Thursday.
“One of the guys came in the room and held a gun on me. While two other people ran in my son’s room, taking his items, his shoes and his PlayStation,” said Monica, the home invasion victim.
Monica, a quadriplegic single mother, was too scared to show her face. She teared up as she recounted what happened.
“The guy kept telling me if I moved, he was going to shoot me,” she said. “When they were running out, one of them said 'grab her, grab the Frenchie,' and that’s when they took my dog.”
The California Highway Patrol later spotted the men in the getaway car, a stolen Dodge Charger, which ended up crashing on Interstate 80 in Berkeley.
“The suspects fled the scene along with the dog that was taken,” said Jennifer Witschi with the Pinole Police Department.
While police quickly found and arrested the suspects, Chanel was nowhere to be found.
Monica plastered flyers in her neighborhood but thought she’d lost her pup forever, until she got some great news a few days ago that Chanel had been found.
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“She was on the freeway and a passerby found her. And was able to pick her up and thank God for the microchips because that’s how they were able to find her owner,” Witschi said.
Monica told NBC Bay Area Thursday that she’s just so grateful that her dog and her family are OK. Her 15-year-old son was at school during the robbery.
“I’m just thankful for my family and I’m thankful that I have my dog back,” she said.
Monica set up a GoFundMe page to help with moving expenses because she no longer feels safe in the apartment. She said that she’s disturbed those thieves continue to target French Bulldogs.
“People look at them for money, but these are part of our families,” Monica said.
