Stonington police charge man with stealing dog from car
Sep. 9—MYSTIC — Stonington police apprehended a Pawcatuck man after they say he stole a Yorkshire terrier Wednesday night from a car parked at Olde Mistick Village.
Police returned the uninjured dog, named Zoey, to its Ashaway, R.I., owner.
They charged Liam A. Audette, 24, of 210 Liberty St. with theft of a companion animal, third-degree larceny, third-degree burglary, interfering with a police officer and second-degree failure to appear in court. He was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.
Capt. Todd Olson said police received a report about 6:30 p.m. of a man trying to enter cars in the parking lot of the shopping village. Olson said a witness told police she saw an intoxicated man carrying a small dog as he walked through the Mystic Aquarium parking lot. When Officer Halim Hage arrived, he was able to locate the man, who dropped the dog and fled. Hage chased the man on foot and apprehended in him in the vicinity West Marine. The dog was retrieved.
Olson said the dog's owner was having dinner at the Go Fish restaurant in the village and left the dog in the car with windows partially rolled down to keep the dog cool. He said Audette reached in the window and was able to steal the dog and a pair of sunglasses from a glove box. The dog is valued at $2,100.
