Amazon driver busted after stealing dog from family’s yard
An Amazon delivery driver stole a family’s dog in Texas and then tried to sell the pooch online for as little as $70, authorities said.
Mycah Keyona Wade, 22, of Crowley, surrendered to deputies in Parker County on July 16 after Amanda and Anthony Phillips reported that their 2-year-old dachshund named RJ was stolen from their front yard in Brock over the July Fourth holiday weekend, the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.
Wade and her boyfriend were dropping off packages for the internet giant on July 5 when they spotted the pup. Wade hopped out of a van and grabbed the dog, Parker County Deputy Danie Huffman told the newspaper.
A landscaper working nearby pointed to the couple’s home when Wade asked who owned the dog, but she and her boyfriend left with the family pet instead of leaving him there, Hoffman said.
Wade and her boyfriend, who was not charged in the incident, allegedly were caught taking the dog on a neighbor’s doorbell security camera after RJ earlier had escaped from the couple’s home and run away.
Wade was working as a contract driver for Amazon at the time and has confessed to the theft. Both she and her boyfriend have since been fired, the Cleburne Times-Review reports.
“This does not reflect the high standards we have for delivery service partners,” Amazon told the newspaper in a statement. “We’re glad the customer has been reunited with their pet, and we have been in touch with them to make it right.”
Investigators said they found a Craigslist ad featuring the dog after the heartless theft.
“There was no contact information, but we’re pretty sure it was RJ that was for sale on Craigslist for $100,” Parker County sheriff’s property crimes investigator Ethan Stark told the Weatherford Democrat. “The ad immediately changed once I contacted the suspect.”
Stark declined to discuss the case when reached Monday, referring additional questions to Sheriff Larry Fowler, who did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
But Anthony Phillips told The Post that the asking price for RJ dropped to as little as $70 as Wade desperately tried to find a buyer.
“Within a couple hours of the ad going up, the price dropped to $70,” Phillips said Monday. “And then they took the post down.”
Phillips then got in touch with deputies who coordinated with Amazon, which helped them identify Wade and her boyfriend. RJ was reunited with the couple and the family’s other dachshund, Shorty, four days later on July 9.
The dog, meanwhile, has been doing well, feasting on a “big basket” of dog treats and rawhide bones sent by Amazon, Phillips said.
“I just hope they’ll learn from it and take a closer look at who they have delivering their packages and representing their company,” Phillips told The Post. “We’re now looking into getting a security system and I’m definitely going to get a fence around my property, as well as getting my dogs chipped.”
via: https://nypost.com/2019/07/29/amazon-driver-busted-after-stealing-dog-from-familys-yard/
Photo Credit: Parker County Sheriff’s Office