HeraldNewsOnline.com Member of the Sun-Times News Group

Plainfield trio stole puppy, police allege

NAPERVILLE -- A Plainfield man accused of conspiring with two women to steal a purebred Pomeranian puppy from a Naperville pet shop surrendered to police.

Emanuel Lopez, 19, turned himself in at 6:44 p.m. Wednesday at the Naperville Police Station, police Cmdr. Dave Hoffman said Thursday.

» Click to enlarge image

Lopez had been sought on a $10,000 arrest warrant. He is free on bail and awaiting trial in DuPage County Circuit Court in Wheaton on a felony charge of retail theft.

Investigators believe Lopez schemed with two women to steal the 2-month-old male pup from the Petland store at 720 S. Illinois 59.

A man, now allegedly identified as Lopez, entered the shop just before 11 a.m. March 21 on the pretext of buying a dog, police said. He fled from the store with the puppy in his arms, with images of him captured by store surveillance video cameras.

Coverage of the theft by area media outlets prompted a 45-year-old Plainfield woman and her teenage son to acquire the pup and return him Monday afternoon to the store. The woman and her son, who are not charged in the crime, told the Sun-Times News Group on Monday they got the dog from a group of youths who had planned to leave the puppy anonymously overnight on Petland's doorstep.

A police investigation led to the arrests Monday night of former Petland employees Anais M. Marquez and Karlie A. Pellock, both 19, of Plainfield. Police allege the women worked with Lopez to help him steal the pup -- valued at just under $1,500 -- and then sell it to them for $60.

Petland owners Mike Isaac and Adam Stachowiak immediately fired Pellock and Marquez upon learning of their alleged involvement in the theft. Marquez and Pellock, who were charged by police with misdemeanor retail theft, are free on bail and awaiting trial.

The puppy is now back at the pet shop awaiting its "adoption." Stachowiak and Isaac have vowed to donate the net proceeds from the pup's sale to the Naperville police K-9 unit, as a show of their appreciation for police efforts in finding and returning the dog to them.

Lopez also was arrested July 13 by Naperville police in another alleged retail theft crime, according to court records. He pleaded guilty last fall and was fined and received court supervision, although records indicated his sentence was revoked Dec. 6 when he failed to pay his fine.