SAN FRANCISCO, CA – A 30-year-old San Francisco woman was attacked by three men at gunpoint on January 5th, with the assailants reportedly stealing her 5-month-old French Bulldog.
The victim says that all she wants back is her dog.
SAN FRANCISCO ATTACK: Sarah Vorhaus says she was assaulted at gunpoint by three men while on a walk with her dogs in Russian Hill tonight. She says they punched her in the face and drove off with her 5-month-old French Bulldog, Chloe. pic.twitter.com/hFhA0sBg8z
— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) January 6, 2021
Sarah Vorhaus said she was walking her two dogs, named Chloe and Colton, along Hyde St. and Broadway at approximately 5:45 p.m. when she heard a man from behind her say, “give me your dog.”
It was when she turned around, she came face-to-face with a man holding her at gunpoint. The male suspect then punched Vorhaus in the face and snatched her dog Chloe before entering a vehicle with two other men and fleeing the area.
Obviously distraught from the unprovoked attack, Vorhaus said she began shouting for help:
“I just started screaming for help…Someone called 911 and the ambulance came.”
When first responders arrived, Vorhaus was taken and treated at a local hospital. However, her concerns weigh more heavily for her missing dog, which she’s currently offering a $2,000 reward for anyone who returns Chloe:
“No questions asked, we will pay truly anything, no questions asked…I don’t even care what happens to this guy. I just want to get Chloe back.”
Here is the Instagram account Sarah has for Chloe and her brother Coltonhttps://t.co/24KQ9v6P1j pic.twitter.com/JOaBJVFnD1
— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) January 6, 2021
Regarding the description of her attackers, Vorhaus stated that she couldn’t get much of a good look at them since they were all wearing masks at the time of the assault and robbery. She believed the man who punched her appeared to be in his 20s or 30s.
The stolen dog was described as having blue-gray eyes, a small white spot on her chest, weighs roughly 13 pounds, and was last wearing a purple collar when she was walking the dog.
Sarah says this attack happened around 5:45p on Hyde & Broadway. She said there were several people on the street and SFPD is interviewing witnesses.
I am absolutely devastated for her and Chloe. Let’s hope there is security video in the area & the assaulters can be identified. pic.twitter.com/LGqjbvUmwo
— Liz Kreutz (@ABCLiz) January 6, 2021
San Francisco Police did confirm that they’re investigating the robbery and asks that anyone with information about the incident to please call their tip line at 1-415-575-4444 or Text a Tip to TIP411 and begin the text message with SFPD.
Tipsters can remain anonymous when contacting the SFPD regarding this or any other investigation.
This is a developing story.
Please follow Law Enforcement Today as we gather further insight into this investigation.
Sadly, this isn’t the first case we reported on at Law Enforcement Today that pertained to dogs being stolen at gunpoint.
Back in August of 2020, a 61-year-old Army veteran was robbed in a similar manner. However, while local police were unable to track down his four-legged friend, they decided to help out in another way.
Here’s that previous report.
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AURORA, CO – In what could not only be coined as a violent crime, but also one involving immense loss, an Army veteran had his dog stolen from him at gunpoint.
While Aurora Police have been looking to track down the veteran’s missing dog – they also decided to help out this member of their community another way.
Aurora Police Go Above And Beyond To Help Veteran After He Lost His Dog At Gunpoint https://t.co/L1MPPS3bJf pic.twitter.com/cV64WYqRSC
— CBSDenver (@CBSDenver) October 2, 2020
Oberoro Stinnett is the 61-year-old veteran who had his black and white boxer lab stolen from him at gunpoint on August 15th while he was in Spencer Garrett Park.
Aurora Police Detective Troy Raines had been working the case, but forged a deeper rapport with Stinnett in their mutual background of being Army veterans.
Detective Raines noted that among the sorts of crimes that he’s worked in the past, someone being robbed of their pet is something that is new territory:
“Over my career I’ve seen a lot of violent crime probably not so much with stealing someone’s pet.”
The police detective knows of the bond that forges between someone and their dog, and remarked on how he’d experienced the loss of his four-legged friend in the past:
“One of the hardest moments of my life is when I had to put my Rottweiler to sleep from the cancer that he had, you know hold him in my arms while the doctor administered medicine to put him down, was a very painstaking day.”
But during this rapport that Detective Raines had established with Stinnett, he’d learned that not all was well with this veteran – outside of having been the victim of a crime. Stinnett is said to be enduring medical issues, as well as some financial ones.
It was at that time when Detective Raines learned of this that he had an opportunity to help out a fellow veteran and community member:
“I felt like we needed to do something as a police department as a victim of a crime but as a member of our community.”
The detective managed to rally up some of his friends and co-workers to help donate some furniture to Stinnett and also collected $1,500 to help tide this veteran over. The 61-year-old veteran noted that it had been quite some time since someone extended a helping hand:
“I haven’t had anybody on my side in a long time.”
While police officers were dropping off a myriad of goods to this veteran, he was reportedly brought to tears. While acknowledging the shared background of both him and Detective Raines being Army veterans, Stinnett stated the following:
“You know we all stand together we all have one pride and that’s to take care of each other when we need.”
While there’s still no word on whether police have any leads on Stinnett’s stolen dog, he said that Detective Raines has already gone above and beyond in rendering assistance to him in his plight:
“He’s a blessing and I love him to death.”
This is beyond community policing – this is a remarkable example of community. And it’s amazing to see that in the process of investigating such a despicable crime as that of stealing a near-elderly person’s dog, a friendship such as this was spawned.
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Author: Gregory Hoyt
