Five People Have Been Arrested for Alleged Kidnapping of Lady Gaga's Dogs
The Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office announced yesterday that five people have been charged for their alleged roles in the kidnapping of Lady Gaga's two French bulldogs and shooting of her dog walker Ryan Fischer in February. Gaga offered a $500,000 reward at the time for the safe return of Koji and Gustav; the dogs were turned into a Los Angeles Police Department's station by a woman who was among those arrested, per the press release.
Three men were arrested for allegedly committing the act itself of stealing Gaga's dogs and shooting her dog walker: James Jackson, 18; Jaylin White, 19. and Lafayette Whaley, 27, were charged “with one count each of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and second-degree robbery,” according to the press release. “Jackson also faces one count each of assault with a semiautomatic firearm and a felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle. White faces one count of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.”
White's father Harold White, 40, was also charged with accessory and one count of possession of a firearm. People obtained an additional press release that alleged that the woman who returned the dogs, 50-year-old Jennifer McBride, “responded to the reward email to return the dogs. She ultimately brought the dogs to LAPD Olympic Station. Detectives were able to establish McBride had a relationship with the father of one of the suspects, Harold White.”
People added that the release said: “Detectives do not believe the suspects were targeting the victim because of the dogs' owner. [But] evidence suggests the suspects knew the great value of the breed of dogs and was the motivation for the robbery.”
Reuters reports that all five suspects pleaded not guilty yesterday afternoon and have been ordered to return to court on May 11.
Fischer, Gaga's dog walker, survived the shooting. On March 1, he posted about his experience on Instagram, writing that “a lot of healing still needs to happen, but I look forward to the future and the moment when I get bombarded with kisses and licks (and maybe even an excitement pee?) from [Gaga's dogs] Asia, Koji, and Gustav.”
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