AKRON — Police arrested two men in connection with a suspected dog napping. It is unclear if the dog escaped from a fenced-in backyard or was stolen but the men attempted to extort $500 from the dog’s owners.“I was mad, oh I was mad,” said the dog’s owner, Donald Alexander.

The family’s doggy ordeal began last Tuesday when 2-year-old Papa Bear seemingly vanished from their Upland Avenue yard which has an 8 foot privacy fence. Shannon and Donald Alexander searched the neighborhood every day and on Friday hung a flier at a nearby store offering a cash reward. “We were offering 100 dollars,” said Shannon. Shortly after hanging the flier the family said they received a phone call from a man demanding $500 for the dog. “He said, ‘Look I’m done talking. If you don’t give me the 500 dollars I have a gun and I will shoot him in the head tomorrow,’ and I just lost it,” said Shannon.

The family said their Dominican pit bull is friendly, calm and docile which probably made him an easy target. They consider Papa Bear one of their children. The family filed a police report and an Akron officer attempted to speak with the suspect. “He told the cop, ‘I don’t care if you are a cop I want 500 dollars or you’re not getting the dog,’” said Donald, “and right there made it crime.” Police planned an undercover sting operation at nearby Emerling Park.

 

Through Shannon, a team of officers made arrangements to meet the suspects with the money. Three men arrived at the park without the dog but armed with a gun. When they saw police officers they ran away.

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