Charlie, shih tzu mix

Here's a story you won't read every day. It's fairly involved, but worth hanging in there. Charlie's people had incredible luck in some area residents that were both very alert, and willing to go to uncommon lengths to help. Enjoy the story.



Stolen dog recovered Friday in Newport
By Steve Card, News-Times
2006/09/27

A dog that was stolen in Newport a week and a half ago was returned safely to its owner on Friday, thanks to the watchful eyes of a Newport man who tracked down the vehicle being driven by the pet-nappers.

On Sunday, Sept. 17, Joe Rossi of Vancouver, Wash. was fishing off of the rocks at the South Jetty of Yaquina Bay when his dog, "Charlie," was stolen. The 20-month-old Shih Tzu mix had been on a leash attached to the tow hitch of Rossi's sport utility vehicle, which was parked nearby. When Rossi went to check on Charlie at around 6:45 p.m., the leash was there, but the dog was gone.
Rossi saw a man and woman walking away from the area, and when he called the dog's name, Charlie popped his head out of a basket the couple was carrying. Rossi gave chase, but the couple reached their car before Rossi could reach them, and they sped off with his dog.
The story of Rossi's stolen dog appeared in last Friday's edition of the News-Times, and Michelle Elmore of Newport was reading that article to her husband, Chuck, while the two were enjoying their morning coffee on Friday. "I have two little Yorkies, and I thought how sad that would be (to have a dog stolen)," Michelle said. When she read a description of the car the two suspects were driving (a red 1991 Toyota Camry with Washington license plates), Chuck said, "I've seen that car."

On Monday, Chuck Elmore told the News-Times that he recalled seeing the car in the early afternoon on Sunday, Sept. 17, which would have been before Charlie was stolen. "We were standing in the driveway (of their home on NE Eads Street in Newport), and they drove by really slow," Elmore said. He said he has seen other suspicious activity in the 20 years he has lived in that area, and these people just seemed "out of place."

When his wife described the car involved in the dog theft, Elmore recalled having seen it several times during the week, usually driving by his home around 12 or 1 o'clock in the afternoon. He decided Friday that he would watch for that car, and sure enough, it again drove by around noon.

But Elmore didn't have access to a vehicle at the time, so when Michelle arrived home for lunch a short while later, the two of them drove around town in search of the suspect vehicle. They failed to find it, but Chuck later went looking with his friend, Brian Cooper, and as they were pulling out off the Safeway parking lot, the Toyota Camry drove past them.

"So we followed it," Elmore said. The problem was, he was in a large pickup, which made it tough to discreetly follow the car. "I think they figured it out because they were trying to ditch me."

And the driver of the Camry did, in fact, lose his pursuers, but Elmore was determined. He continued driving around, and while traveling on NE Harney Street east of the Lincoln County Fairgrounds, he once again spotted the car. "There's a row of camp sites by the fairgrounds where they let you stay for like a week at a time," he said, "and lo and behold, there they were, loading their trunk with a bunch of stuff, trying to get the heck out of Dodge."

Elmore parked out of sight nearby and contacted the Newport Police Department.

When Officer Dustin Kittel arrived on the scene, the man and woman who were camped there did, in fact, have a dog in their possession. But as fate would have it, Kittel had just come back on duty after being off for several days, and he was not yet aware of the circumstances surrounding the dog's earlier disappearance. The man and woman told Kittel they had seen the dog wandering around town and had picked it up for safekeeping.

Kittel gathered information from the couple and then took possession of the dog and walked it next door to the Lincoln County Animal Shelter. He then went back to the police department to continue his investigation. Once there, he discovered the report of the dog theft from five days earlier, and he immediately returned to the fairgrounds. Less than 15 minutes had passed since Kittel had left the campsite, but when he arrived back there the couple and all of their possessions were gone.

Newport Sergeant Dave Teem said generally, there would have been two officers responding to the initial call, and one of these officers would have remained on scene while the other went back to the police department to check out the information. But at the time, all of the officers on duty were tied up elsewhere, Teem said, "so we couldn't."

Kittel had obtained a cell phone number for the woman, and he gave her a call. Teem said, "They had agreed to come in and turn themselves in, but they never did." The police are now seeking the two for questioning.

"We'll pick them up," said Teem. "We've identified the suspects, and we'll put out a warrant for them."

The male has been identified as Steven Anthony, 45, of Texas. He is described as a white male, 5-feet 8-inches tall, weighing 180 pounds, with brown eyes and brown hair. The woman was identified as Yolanda Anthony, 46, a white female, 5-feet 5-inches tall, 130 pounds, with blue eyes and blonde hair.

Teem said the Toyota Camry the couple had been driving was apparently a borrowed vehicle. They are now believed to be driving a white, 1963 Ford van with Oregon license plate CZD-204.

As for Joe Rossi, he received word from the police late Friday afternoon that his dog had been found, "and I headed straight down," he said. "It took me about four hours because of traffic, so I got there between 9 and 10 sometime."

The animal shelter closes at 5 p.m. on Fridays, but shelter employee Mindy Kirkpatrick went ahead and paid the required fee of $25 to claim Charlie, and she then met Rossi later that night in Newport to bring owner and dog back together.

Rossi said he was elated to have his dog back. In the days following Charlie's abduction, "I wasn't very optimistic and kind of gave up hope; was getting depressed."

It doesn't appear that Charlie was mistreated, added Rossi, but "he was real exhausted when we got him back, and he slept for about two days straight." The dog also seemed to have an upset stomach, "so he probably didn't eat all that healthy throughout the week, but I'm getting him back on course."

Source: Newport News Time
http://www.newportnewstimes.com/articles/2006/09/27/news/news02.txt
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