San Leandro Police: Puppies Stolen, Put For Sale on Craigslist

A San Leandro man has been arrested on charges that he stole two German Shepherd puppies and put them up for sale on Craigslist.

San Leandro Police Lt. Mike Sobek said on Wednesday that Richard Coleman, 30, was arrested on suspicion of possession of stolen property and extortion.

A woman told officers that her two puppies were stolen from her Livermore home last week, and when she checked Craigslist, she found that they had been put up for sale.

She contacted the seller set up a time to meet him, police said. She confronted him and he ran away, police said.

But officers were able to ruse Coleman to another location where he was arrested with one of the puppies, police said. Coleman led officers to the second puppy, according to police.

Both puppies were unharmed and returned to the woman.

In a statement, Sobek said: "This crime struck a nerve with one of our officers and he went that extra step to help recover those puppies and return them to a grateful owner."

Coleman was due in court on Thursday.

Bay City News contributed to this report.

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