Miraculous Recovery of a Stolen Dog by Boston News Crew
After Titus, a 13-month-old German Shorthaired Pointer was brazenly stolen from his owner’s vehicle shortly past 12 pm on May 7th, a Boston 7NEWS crew reporting on the incident came across his dognapper – with the dog!
A vehicle had been parked at 620 Memorial Drive, when a man, later discovered to be 29-year-old Kyle Gariepy, had entered the vehicle and walked away with Titus. The thief had then boldly walked away with the young pointer over BU Bridge into Boston, all of this had been caught on camera.
Cambridge police had reported on the incident via their Twitter page, describing Titus as wearing an orange collar with a name tag that read “Titus”. They had also provided an image of the pup for civilians to take note of, should they see him on the streets.
Just need to say how grateful I am to my photojournalist that day, John Guice! He actually spoke with the man first about how beautiful Titus was. As I walked over I quickly realized we found the dog and had the suspect. Wouldn’t have been possible without him! https://t.co/nUIdrAHfON
— Juliana Mazza (@julianamazzatv) May 11, 2021
Following the announcement by Cambridge Police, 7NEWS decided to report on the dognapping incident from the crime scene. 7NEWS reporter and anchor Julia Mazza had just wrapped up filming about the theft when her photojournalist John Guice, spotted a dog that looked suspiciously like Titus being walked nearby, according to WHDH.
After spotting the man, who appeared to be wearing the same coat as the man in the surveillance footage, Guice called out to the man walking the dog to tell him how beautiful Titus was.
“The first thing I did was ask if I could pet the dog. I wanted to get down to his nametag to confirm that the name matched the name of the missing dog,” Mazza told WHDH-TV.
Gariepy, the alleged thief, happily walked over to the report, Titus in tow, and allowed her to pet him. Mazza then signaled to Guice to begin recording so as to catch the entire interaction on tape. Gariepy appeared befuddled by Mazza’s question, tripping over his words to explain how to came to be in possession of Titus. This entire interaction had taken place in the parking lot where Titus had been taken.
Yesterday at approximately 12:32p, an unknown suspect broke into and entered a vehicle that was parked at 620 Memorial Drive & stole a 13-month-old white German Short Haired Pointer out of the vehicle. The suspect was then observed walking the dog over the BU Bridge into Boston. pic.twitter.com/titQ0WvPMM
— Cambridge Police👮🏽 (@CambridgePolice) May 8, 2021
Mazza had asked Gariepy why he didn’t think to call the number on the tag, in response to which Gariepy claims his phone was broken and so he wasn’t able to call the number. Mazza remarked on how it had been over 24 hours since the dog had gone missing and he hadn’t thought to make any effort to contact the police or the owner, whose number is on the dog tag.
When questioned on why he took the dog in the first place, Gariepy tells the crew that he had seen Titus barking in the car and thought he was a dog he was supposed to be walking, so he helped himself and walked away. Gariepy was insistent that it was not a dognapping, but a simple “misunderstanding”.
When Gariepy’s story didn’t add us Mazza called the police. All the while Gariepy did not attempt to find a way out of the situation but rather stood exactly where he was. The police quickly arrived and took Gariepy into custody, charging him with larceny of over $1,200, and breaking and entering into a vehicle to commit a felony.
#ICYMI: I HAD to repost this story told by the lovely @MeganAlexander of @InsideEdition ! It aired last night after #7News at 6pm! pic.twitter.com/KvW176Q6xQ
— Juliana Mazza (@julianamazzatv) May 11, 2021
Mazza credited Guice for his quick thinking on calling out to Gariepy when he realized he had spotted the dog and thief. She tweeted that it “wouldn’t have been possible without him!” in response to Insider Edition’s headline claiming she had been the one to find the stolen pup.
Titus was promptly returned to his owner, Greg Siesczkiewicz, in a tearful reunion. Siesczkiewicz spoke with 7NEWS, saying he was so happy to have Titus back, and that he feels Titus is happy to be back as well.
The story was later updated by Cambridge Police on their Twitter, sharing the good news. With Siesczkiewicz speaking with 7NEWS to say that he feels situations like this prove the value of broadcast media, social media, and the media in general. Expressing his thanks once again for 7NEWS’s presence in the parking lot that day, as if they hadn’t been there he may never have gotten Titus back.
