BOCA RATON, Fla. — A Florida woman is accused of breaking into her neighbor’s apartment and stealing their puppy, authorities said.
Temple Inman, 57, of Boca Raton, is facing charges of grand theft and burglary of an unoccupied structure, according to the Palm Beach County Sheriff’s Office.
According to the sheriff’s office, Inman on June 21 accused her neighbors of mistreating their black Shih Tzu puppy, named Binnie, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
Binnie is home! Stolen puppy finally returned to owner https://t.co/Uc56CfgbRx
— WPBF 25 News (@WPBF25News) July 13, 2021
Later that day, Binnie’s owners discovered a hole cut into their patio door, the newspaper reported. Binnie was missing.
“I was devastated,” Hemilly Moraes, the puppy’s owner, told WPBF. “I couldn’t do anything anymore. I was just crying the whole day.”
The next day, Moraes’ family noticed Inman walking a black Shih Tzu puppy in the apartment complex, according to the Sun-Sentinel. When one man confronted Inman and accused her of stealing Binnie, Inman cursed at him, according to the sheriff’s office.
The man called out to Binnie in Portuguese, and the dog began running toward him, but Inman pulled violently on the leash and caused the animal to stop and gag, authorities said.
After viewing the security camera video, authorities said they saw Inman carrying the puppy through the apartment complex on the day she was stolen, WPBF reported.
Inman was arrested Friday, but the dog was still missing, WPEC reported.
“I was really afraid they would do something to her,” Moraes told WPBF. “Because I’m really attached to her. And if they did something to her, I wouldn’t know what to do.”
Inman’s son returned Binnie to Moraes the next day and also apologized, the Sun-Sentinel reported.
“I just hugged her for 10 minutes straight,” Moraes told WPBF. “I was really out of myself that I got her back.”
Inman remains in jail, with bail set at $51,000, Boca News Now reported.
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