As if it wasn’t rewarding enough for Detective Gregg Yokoyama to make a 100-mile round trip to return a stolen dog to its rightful owner, when he held the miniature Schnauzer in his arms, he found out a funny nugget of information about the whole case.
The dog’s name, he learned, was also Greg.
So, as Gregg held Greg, the moment capped a worrisome 20-day ordeal for the owner of little Greg, which began with the dog’s theft.
The dog’s owner, who lives in Val Verde, reported her dog stolen May 9, said Shirley Miller, spokeswoman for the SCV Sheriff’s Station.
The woman suspected one particular man from the start, she said.
What set the investigation into full gear was when the woman phoned the suspect and heard a dog barking in the background.
“She contacted him,” Miller said. “And, while she was on the phone, she heard a dog barking, and it sounded like her dog.
“She asked him, ‘Do you have my dog?,’” Miller said.
Once they were able to verify the dog’s location with help of a GPS locating chip, Yokoyama and his fellow detectives drove to West Covina.
The detectives returned to the Santa Clarita Valley on Wednesday with little Greg.
On their way to reunite the pup with its owner in Val Verde, officials learned that the dog owner was temporarily away from her home. Little Greg is being temporarily cared for at the Castaic Animal Shelter until its owner returns home, Miller said.
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