[News] A Boy's Heartache

[Breezeaway]

A Boy's Heartache

By Joe Stevens, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/13/2008 10:08:48 PM PDT


http://extras.mnginteractive.com/liv...C2RZPU_300.JPG 5/13/08 - Eight-year-old Nathan Pereira holds a photo of his Yorkshire Terrier, Joci, that was taken when a man grabbed the dog and ran off with him on Mother's Day. Annette, his mother, and Nathan moved to Long Beach from Apple Valley in September and are beside themselves with the dog-napping. Photo by Steven Georges/Press-Telegram


http://extras.mnginteractive.com/liv...C2RZB7_200.JPG Annette Pereira's son, Mason, was walking the family's Yorkie on Mother's Day, when a man grabbed the dog, Joci, and ran off with him. Annette and Mason moved to Long Beach from Apple Valley in September and are beside themselves with the dog-napping. This a family photo of the dog.




LONG BEACH - Joci the Yorkshire terrier loves 8-year-old Nathan Pereira.
The dog frequently licks the boy's hands, plays with him and has even tried to go to school with him. Joci and Nathan's bond is extremely close, one that dog owners surely would understand.
But that bond has been broken.
When Nathan walked Joci at about 2:30p.m. on Mother's Day, a man knocked the boy to the ground and took Joci on the corner of 23rd Street and Lime Avenue. Nathan chased the dognapper, only to end his pursuit in tears when strangers helped the boy home. Nathan and his mother, Annette Pereira, are beside themselves. They are questioning the morality of the world, wondering how someone could swipe their cute 5-pound
http://extras.mnginteractive.com/liv...C2S0JE_300.JPG 5/13/08 - A reward flyer for Joci, a Yorkshire Terrier that was stolen from 8-year-old Nathan Pereira of Long Beach on Mother's Day. --NO PHOTO CREDIT--


Yorkie.
"I know people are how they are," Annette said. "But why is there so much stealing, killing and destruction?"
Her son was pushed. Her dog is gone and she can't stand it.
"I'm torn up," Annette said. "I'm having a hard time sleeping at night and I'm having anxiety attacks. It's killing me. This was the worst Mother's Day of my life."
Nathan has similar feelings.
"Every time I hear the story I cry," he said. "I just feel sad for like a whole hour." Nathan, a second-grader at John Muir Academy, has recounted the story to police and his classmates and can offer several details about the suspect. He says the suspect was a black male about 6 feet tall with long hair that could be braided.

When the dog was snatched, the suspect was wearing a green and white shirt and baggy jeans. Nathan estimates the dognapper was 15, but onlookers told him and Annette he was probably more like 19.
The most distinctive detail about the suspect is that he has a tattoo of a bird on his neck.
All of this was told to the Long Beach police, who confirmed Tuesday that a report was made and the case is being investigated.
"I think he took the dog so he could give it to his mom," Nathan said.
That motive is possible, if it weren't just for cash. A Yorkie can cost thousands of dollars, and the Pereiras got a deal for Joci at $600. It was a good deal, considering that the 1-year-old dog is an import, bred in Germany.
If the theft isn't gut-wrenching enough, the tale has a back story full of doggone heartache.
Nathan and Annette moved to Long Beach from Apple Valley in September because they wanted to be reunited with Annette's husband, Angel Pereira, who is a longshoreman. Nathan and Annette had been living in a mobile home, and they couldn't stand being away from Angel anymore.
Within three weeks of being in Long Beach at a Christian school, Nathan was dismissed. Annette says it's because he had an asthma attack and the school said he would be a liability if he stayed.
Earlier this year, Nathan was attacked by a group of five girls who tried to take his skateboard. He stumbled home crying with a welt on his face, but he still had the board.
With Joci being dognapped, Annette and Nathan are wondering if they're cut out for a big city like Long Beach.
"Nothing bad ever happened in Apple Valley," Nathan said. "The people were good there."
Annette is still deciding what to do next. "We either move closer to the beach or we go back to the country," she said. "We're going to do one of those, for sure."
A Boy's Heartache - Press-Telegram

[yorkie mom-3]

OMG this is so sad. I just feel so for them. And poor little Joci and what has happened to her. It just pulls at your heartstrings so bad. I hope and pray they find her.

[Little Bit]

That is so sad! Poor little boy! I hope Joci is okay. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, but one which keeps happening over and over all over the country...

[grandmatoall]

Originally Posted by Little Bit

That is so sad! Poor little boy! I hope Joci is okay. Unfortunately this is not an isolated incident, but one which keeps happening over and over all over the country...

How cruel. What is the world coming to? This poor little puppy has been seperated from a loving little boy. Breaking a very tight bond. My prayers are with them all. Hopefully, the person who got the dog will read about it and return him.

[karren]

very scary!!

[mkawczak]

OMG!!! I could not imagine. I think that is deplorable. I hope they get their pup back soon,and they're allright.

[MissPinkBarbie]

I just saw this too on yahoo. So sad and disturbing!

I hope they'll find the dognapper and get the furbaby back home safely.

[mypreciouspups]

Unbelieveable... my heavens.. my heart breaks for this boy.. I think walking a yorkie now a days is almost long gone..sad but true...

Pretty heartwrenching....anne

[I Love Bailey]

I saw this on yahoo news this afternoon.
How terrible! There were several witnesses who saw & can identify the dognapper & the dog is microchipped so hopefully she will be returned very soon.

[mscat]

This is very, very heartbreaking. I feel so bad for this young boy and his family. A heartless individual , this man was to grab a dog from a child.

[nydia]

To bad no one knows how to contact them because I would just give them a puppy, they are obviously good parents to their yorkie, they are willing to give a reward for her, and she looks like she is well taken care of. I have two babies in my home I was thinking about keeping but I will part with one for this little boy I just don't ship my yorkies you have to come pick them up or meet me halfway.

[Little Bit]

Originally Posted by nydia

To bad no one knows how to contact them because I would just give them a puppy, they are obviously good parents to their yorkie, they are willing to give a reward for her, and she looks like she is well taken care of. I have two babies in my home I was thinking about keeping but I will part with one for this little boy I just don't ship my yorkies you have to come pick them up or meet me halfway.

I'll bet if you contacted the news station that reported this they would get in touch with them for you if you are serious.

[Beach Walker]

Perhaps a breeder with a heart would help this little guy out with the gift of a Yorkie?

[Beach Walker]

Maybe we could set up a cross country chain? I could come to CT and retrieve your baby..keep him/her here a day to recover a bit from the trip and meet up with someone else we can trust? I am in NJ

[I Love Bailey]

Here is an updated article:
Missing dog's owner, 8, has a luckier day

By Joe Stevens, Staff Writer
Article Launched: 05/16/2008 11:32:26 PM PDT


http://extras.mnginteractive.com/liv...C2SHU4_300.JPG Nathan Pereira, 8, greets his new dog Lucky. It was donated after a thief stole the family terrier, Joci, from Nathan on Mother's Day. (Scott Smeltzer/Staff photographer)




LONG BEACH - Nathan Pereira unleashed a huge smile when he arrived home from school to see his new dog, Lucky.
The 8-year-old held Lucky, caressed him and exclaimed: "His tail feels like cotton!"
Shortly after that, Nathan said: "I miss Joci."
While the Pereiras received a terrier mix as a gift on Friday, the family still was without its original pooch - Joci the Yorkshire terrier.
Long Beach police continued their doghunt, taking Nathan on a ride for him to show his path when he chased after the dognapper. Nathan says the suspect is easy to spot because of a distinctive tattoo of a bird on his neck.
"I'm happy because I think we could get Joci back," Nathan said. "I hope Lucky doesn't bark at him. I hope the guy gets caught, so he doesn't do this again."
Police have been tight-lipped in giving information about their dogged investigation. Hope to use the microchip embedded in Joci as a homing device is gone, though. The type of chip he has can only be scanned and not located like a doggie LoJack.
Regardless, the family says there are leads because a witness has stepped forward, saying he saw Joci snatched from Nathan. Also, the boy's father, Angel Pereira, says he saw the suspect walk past his home earlier this week. Pereira, a longshoreman, then played the role of detective by staying on the guy's trail until he entered a home at 23rd Street and Myrtle Avenue. Through Pereira's detective work, talking
around his neighborhood, he says the guy is likely either a member of the Insane Crips or Youth Foundation Crips.
The suspect the Pereiras describe is a black male about 19 years of age, 6 feet tall and thin with a tattoo of a bird on the left side of his neck.
The dognapping happened at about 2:30 p.m. on Mother's Day. Nathan was walking the dog and was pushed to the ground by the thief. After a brief chase, he returned home crying, and since then, a lot of crying has gone on at the Pereira residence.
There has also been an outpouring of support from readers, including some who want to donate money to the Pereiras. Two people - Charles Humphrey of Compton and Milissa Martinez-Petriello of Long Beach - offered to give them dogs that are both named "Lucky."
Even though Humphrey's Lucky is a Yorkie, the Pereiras accepted Martinez-Petriello's Lucky because she had had the dog for only a week and was not allowed to keep him in her apartment. Both Humphrey and Martinez-Petriello said they were outraged after reading a story in the Press-Telegram.
"What kind of animal would push a kid over and take his dog?" Martinez-Petriello asked. "It's not even human. This is what the world is coming to? It struck a chord with me. You just don't do something like that."
The incident left Nathan's mother, Annette Pereira, questioning whether to move back to Apple Valley, from where the family moved in September.
Annette is appreciative to those who have contacted her and offered support. An anonymous businessman offered a $10,000 reward for information that leads to an arrest. With Martinez-Petriello, she is especially thankful because she brought smiles to her family because of Lucky.
"I'm grateful, but the pain's still there," Annette said. "I'm a giver, and you can ask me for anything, and I'd try to give it to you. If this guy came to me and said, `Hey, I want your dog,' I would have helped him get one himself." joe.stevens@presstelegram.com, 562-499-1281