Hourly Update

Police nab suspected puppy-snatcher

Police nabbed a suspected puppy-snatcher Wednesday night after she slipped a tiny dog into her purse and sneaked out of a North Side pet store. She might have gotten away, but Dionte Bates, 26 was picked up after stopping at a second pet store where she’d stopped for puppy supplies. She was arrested on suspicion of felony theft, said Sgt. Decio Hopffer, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. The dog — a 9-week-old Yorkshire Terrier — is worth $3,200, said Petland owner Peter Sher. Bates came into a Petland at 405 E. Wetmore, near North First Avenue, about 5 p.m. and asked to look at a couple of puppies, Sher said. “She seemed to fall in love with this Yorkshire Terrier,” he said. “It’s one of our most popular breeds.” She applied for a loan to purchase the dog but failed to qualify, he said. She told Sher she loved the dog, wanted it and would be back. She returned to the store with two or three other people about an hour later. One filled out an application to qualify for financing, and another distracted a Petland employee, asking questions about fish and reptiles. That’s when Bates hid the dog in her purse and left the store, Sher said. Employees then called police and managers at nearby pet stores. As police arrived at Petland the manager of a Petco a few blocks away called to say he thought the woman was at his store. At the Petco, Bates initially denied knowing where the dog was to police, Sher said, but it was quickly found with a woman who was sitting in a car in the parking lot. Hopffer said there may be further arrests in the case when it’s turned over to the Pima County Attorney. “We don’t get a lot of these cases,” Hopffer said.