WASHINGTON — November 28 UPDATE: Teffiney Worthy has been reunited with her puppy Hendrix. Read more here.
A D.C. woman is pleading for the community's help after her 6-month-old French bulldog was stolen on Saturday. This comes just months after the same woman's first dog died in the District Dogs flood in Northeast.
Teffiney Worthy says she was getting back from walking her six-month-old puppy Hendrix around 4 p.m. on Saturday, when two black cars with paper tags pulled up in front of her home on Monroe Street, Northeast.
"When he got out of the car and started running, I panicked and couldn't put my pin in time to get me and Hendrix in safely," Worthy told WUSA9.
Worthy says the man was carrying what looked like a taser and said, "Give me your dog or I'll kill you."
She believes the theft was a targeted attack because she had seen both cars prior to the robbery at a gas station near her home at the intersection of 18th and Monroe Streets, Northeast.
"It was heartbreaking. It was heartbreaking looking in his eyes. He just didn't want to go, and you know, he was very shook." she said.
Hendrix was gifted to her after she lost her first dog Memphis back in August when floodwaters overcame the former District Dogs Northeast location.
Worthy has started a GoFundMe to help bring her new puppy Hendrix back safely. She says the money will be used to pay for a private investigator and to offer a reward to bring him home. She also took to X on Saturday, formerly known as Twitter, urging the community for help. "Please help me find my baby."
Police say that the man that demanded the dog got into a black Nissan with tinted windows. Police say he was last seen heading east on Monroe Street, Northeast.
The entire interaction was captured by surveillance and can be seen below:
After getting a warning from friends about dog thefts, Worthy says she played out the possible scenarios in her head several times, but nothing could prepare her for the real thing. "I want to fight back, but the safest thing would be to hand him over and hopefully he can return safely, and that's what I did," she said.
Worthy says she has not recovered from losing her first dog in the flash flood and now her support has been stolen. "It's overwhelming. You know at times I am numb, you know? Don't know how to feel. I am fighting and I just want to get him home soon."
D.C. Police is offering a $10,000 reward to make an arrest and conviction in this case.
Anyone who can identify the man or suspect car above is asked to call police at 202-727-9099 or text an anonymous tip to 50411.
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