The woman who returned Lady Gaga’s stolen French bulldogs was among the five people arrested in connection with the theft and shooting of the music superstar’s dog handler, Los Angeles police said Thursday.
Detectives don’t believe the thieves knew the dogs belonged to the pop star, Los Angeles police said in a statement. The motive for the February 24 robbery, according to investigators, was the value of the French bulldogs – which can run into the thousands.
Dog handler Ryan Fischer is recovering from a gunshot wound and has described the violence on social media as “a very close call to death”. He was walking with Lady Gaga’s three dogs – Asia, Koji and Gustav – in Hollywood right on famous Sunset Boulevard when he was attacked.
Video from the doorbell camera of a nearby house shows a white limousine pulling up and two men jumping out. They fought with Fischer and one drew a gun and fired a single shot before escaping with two of the dogs, Koji and Gustav.
The video captured Fischer’s screams: “Oh, my god! I was shot! “And” Help me! “And” I’m bleeding from my chest! “
The doorbell video shows a white limousine pulling up and two men jumping out. They fought with Fischer and one drew a gun and fired a single shot before escaping with two of the dogs, Koji and Gustav.
Lady Gaga offered a $ 500,000 “no questions asked” reward for reuniting with the dogs. The singer was in Rome at the time to make a film.
The dogs were returned to an LAPD station two days later by a woman who originally appeared to be “uninvolved and unrelated to the crime,” police said. It wasn’t immediately clear if the woman identified as 50-year-old Jennifer McBride on Thursday received the reward.
It emerged that McBride was in a relationship with the father of one of the suspects, the LAPD said on Thursday.
Police arrested James Jackson, 18; Jaylin White, 19; and Lafayette Whaley, 27, on Tuesday on suspicion of attempted murder and robbery.
White’s father, 40-year-old Harold White, and McBride were arrested on suspicion of attempted murder. Jackson, Whaley, and the Whites are all documented gang members, according to the LAPD.
The five suspects were charged by the Los Angeles District Attorney’s Office on Thursday. It wasn’t immediately clear whether they had lawyers to speak for them.
All five were held on bail of $ 1 million each, according to online prison records.
Lady Gaga did not immediately address the arrests on her social media accounts on Thursday afternoon. Fischer and Lady Gaga’s representatives did not respond to requests for comment.
Stefanie Dazio, The Associated Press
Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Would you like to support local journalism? Donate here.
Comments are closed.