Hourly Update

Dismissed charges against suspected puppy-snatcher can be refiled, judge says

A city magistrate dismissed a felony theft case against a Tucson woman accused of stealing an expensive Yorkshire terrier from a pet store because Tucson police officers failed to tell him the value of the dog. “I was missing an essential fact at the hearing,” Judge Tony Riojas said Friday afternoon. “If I had known that one fact, it would’ve made a difference.” Tucson resident Dionte Bates, 26, was arrested on suspicion of felony theft Wednesday night after the owner of a local Petland store accused her of stealing a 2-pound Yorkshire terrier worth $3,200. David Berkman, the chief criminal deputy for the Pima County Attorney's Office, learned Friday morning that Riojas ruled there wasn’t enough evidence to charge Bates during her initial court appearance Thursday night. Because the County Attorney’s Office doesn’t staff such hearings, Berkman said he didn’t know Riojas’ reason. When reached Friday afternoon, Riojas said that in order for someone to be charged with felony theft, officers must prove the value of the object allegedly stolen. In this case, Riojas said he thinks there was simply a failure to communicate between the officers in the field and the officer who presented the case to him at the court hearing. Both Berkman and Riojas said the case was dismissed without prejudice so it can be refiled. Petland owner Peter Sher gave this account of the incident: A woman came into a Petland at 405 E. Wetmore Road, near North First Avenue, about 5 p.m. Wednesday and asked to look at a couple of puppies. When the woman’s loan application for a $3,200 Yorkshire terrier failed, she said she’d be back. An hour later, Sher said, the woman returned with a group of friends who helped distract an employee. The woman hid the 2-pound dog in her purse and left. A short time later, a Petco manager who had been tipped off about the theft called police to say she thought the suspect was at her store, located at 4625 N. Oracle Road. While several employees distracted the suspect, the manager went outside and spotted a Yorkshire terrier puppy in a car in the parking lot with another woman. Tucson police officers seized the puppy, which was unharmed. Bates was arrested at that point.