There is nothing more heartbreaking for a dog owner than when their pet is stolen. They worry about his safety and wonder if he will ever see them again.
One of the best things you can do is try to get the news out there, get the story out on the news, and get it out there in the media. But when a local news reporter came to cover the story, she saved the day in ways no one expected.
Earlier this week, a 13-month-old German shorthaired pointer named Titus went missing and is believed to have been stolen in Cambridge, Massachusetts, when cameras captured a suspect getting into a vehicle and fleeing with the dog, the agency reported. Cambridge Police.
Juliana Mazza from local news agency WHDHTV filmed a section on the case.
But she quickly intervened in a very unexpected way. As the cameras rolled, Mazza suddenly noticed a very familiar looking dog. She quickly realized that it was Titus, the exact missing dog she was reporting on.
When the journalist saw the dog pass a man who looked exactly like the suspect who was being held by the camera, it was for an exclusive dance.
“The first thing I did was ask if I could pet the dog because I wanted to go to the name tag to confirm that the name matched the missing dog’s name,” Mazza told Inside Edition.
She instructs her cameraman to keep the cameras running.
The suspect, later identified as 29-year-old Kyle Gariepy, defended on camera why he had the dog and said it was a misunderstanding.
“He just barked at the car and I walked by the car thinking it must be a dog walking the dog,” Gariepy said, according to WHDH. “It was not a kidnapping, it was a simple mistake.”
Today I was on the job looking into a stolen dog in #Cambridge. I NEVER could’ve imagined that my photog & I would be the ones to actually FIND him! Happy to report we stopped the suspect (whose been arrested) & helped get #Titus back to his dog dad❤️ AND IT’S ALL ON CAMERA ⬇️ pic.twitter.com/ICj5viviRg
— Juliana Mazza (@julianamazzatv) May 8, 2021
But Mazza asks the tough questions for a journalist and asks why he didn’t call the police or the owner of the dog whose number is on Titus’ collar.
Finally, Mazza contacted the police saying that he had the missing dog and the alleged dog thief. They soon appeared and arrested Gariepy. According to Inside Edition, he was charged with robbery and assaulted in a motor vehicle.
Meanwhile, Titus happily reunited with his owner Greg Siesczkiewicz.
“I am happy to have Titus again. I think he is happy to have me back, ”said Siesczkiewicz.
“I’m glad the person came back and I’m glad you were there,” he told WHDH. “If anyone ever sees this questioning the value of the media, social media, broadcast media, it shows.”
And for this reporter, it was a news investigation she will never forget.
“Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would be the one to find the dog,” Mazza told Inside Edition.
On Twitter, she thanked her photojournalist John Guice for helping her shut down the Dognapper. “In fact, he first told the man about how beautiful Titus was. As he approached me, I quickly realized that we had found the dog and the suspect. Without him it would not have been possible! ”
What an extraordinary case to be in the right place at the right time. Big thanks to Juliana Mazza for turning off this Dognapper and bringing Titus home safely!