NORTHFIELD - Following an elaborate sting operation, a stolen Yorkshire terrier - held hostage for $300 - has been returned to its owner thanks to the efforts of the Northfield Police Department.
Meanwhile, the dog's alleged captor, a 26-year-old Pleasantville man, has been arrested on charges of extortion and theft.
It all started on Aug. 6, when Roxie, a 2-year-old Yorkie with epilepsy and a bad knee, went missing from Margie Valles' Zion Road home.
Since then, "It's actually been a long story," Valles said Thursday.
"I did my homework," she said. "I went to the police. I sent out 50 notices to vets and the SPCA. I posted ads anywhere. It was a matter of time before she got sick anyway, and somebody would have to take her to the vet."
The first lead? A person who called to say Roxie had been spotted on a porch on Shore Road - but when Valles got there, she was told that "two ladies" had come and taken Roxie away.
After that odd situation, she contacted the police again. She also took out a Lost and Found ad in The Press of Atlantic City
"MISSING." it read, before giving info on Roxie's description. "Has epilepsy. Needs meds. REWARD!"
It was that ad, Valles said, that spurred a woman to call in with another tip.
Roxie, the woman said, was none other than the dog she saw being walked up and down the streets of Pleasantville for a week and a half.
"I explained to this woman that the dog has epilepsy," Valles said, "and that she'll have seizures. I said, 'Please help me get my dog back!'"
The woman talked with the man in possession of the dog, Valles said, and was told Valles could have the dog back - for $300. The story, Valles said, was that "somebody had sold the dog to this person, and they wouldn't give me the dog without me paying $300 to get back their money."
The next move: the police again.
"They actually set up this undercover operation," she said. "The guy sent his girlfriend to give back the dog. He wanted to meet in Pleasantville."
Valles sat in a nearby car, ready to ID the dog on sight.
"It was pretty intense," she said. "They were really serious. I thought, 'Oh my gosh! All this for my dog.'"
So it was that James Wills, 26, of Pleasantville, was arrested by the Northfield Criminal Investigations Division and charged with extortion and theft, Capt. Randy Clark said in a statement. Wills was released on a summons pending a court appearance Sept. 2.
So it was a happy reunion for Roxie and Valles - which is all the more remarkable, according to Nancy Beall, the president of the Atlantic County SPCA. Dognappings like this one, though extremely rare in Atlantic County, don't tend to end well.
"It's not real common in this area," Beall said. "In 21 years, we maybe had three or four (similar cases), and they sadly didn't have the dogs."
Roxie's captors "didn't take good care of her," Valles said. "She had fleas and gum in her hair. We had to call a vet. We're just getting her to readjust. She's doing OK today. ... She's getting back to her normal, bratty self."
Valles - who said she prayed every night during Roxie's disappearance - added that while she's grateful for everyone who's helped her, she's also become a little more hardened.
"I'm now more wary that these kind of things can happen," she said. "That someone can actually steal a dog."
Beall, for her part, summed up the matter succinctly.
"I think it's despicable,"said Beall of the alleged dognapper. "I can't believe this person was that stupid."
Northfield police nab tramp, lady gets her dog back - pressofAtlanticCity.com : Atlantic County