The owner of a 4-year-old pug named Sasha says a man broke into his house and stole her, and he believes he knows who's behind it.
David Febus showed NBC New York the surveillance video of the moment someone walked onto his front porch in the Baychester section of the Bronx around midnight last Thursday. The man entered his home while he was sleeping, Febus said, and he woke up to find that his beloved dog was gone. All that was left was her collar near the front door and nothing else inside his home was taken.
"I’m not sleeping I’m not eating I’m very concerned and very worried for her safety," Febus said.
Sasha has been with him since she was a puppy. The idea that someone has taken her has completely broken his heart.
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"It’s really it’s driving me insane," he said on the verge of tears.
Febus says he contacted the police but there have been no leads. Though he thinks a former tenant who he evicted from his basement apartment could have been responsible for the dognapping.
"He left the apartment a complete and utter mess…wrecked the doors, holes in the walls," Febus said, adding that he refused to give the former tenant his $1,300 security deposit back.
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Then he received this text message: "Let me know ASAP or will proceed to send someone to get my money the hard way u chose."
Not long after, Sasha was stolen. A day later, he received another text message. This time from a stranger who identified herself as Annette. She told him she had bought Sasha from someone but she's willing to return his dog to him --- at a price.
“Give me 1500 dollars I just paid for her and I’d gladly give her back," one of the texts read. She didn't give any explanation as to how she learned that the dog was stolen or who provided her with Febus' phone number.
Febus says he doesn't believe "at all" that the person on the other end of those messages is telling the truth. "I believe that she was put up to get the security deposit," he said.
Still, he offered to give the woman the money but she wanted it upfront. He refused and then she stopped texting.
Sasha remains missing and Febus has a few words to say to the person who took his pet: "What kind of a human would harm an innocent animal that can’t talk and can’t even fend for themselves. Does that make you feel really big that you’re doing something like this? It’s utterly incredible."
