It’s been a long week for Yurman, the French bulldog who went from being stolen at gunpoint to loving arms again.
Where was he in between? It is anybody’s guess, and Yurman isn’t talking, but it was a long, strange trip, ending with an undercover operation.
Yurman’s owner Jaineen Brown showed News4 where it all began on Fort Davis Street in Southeast Washington, D.C.
A black car with Virginia tags pulled up during their Saturday evening walk on June 29. Then, an armed man jumped out and took Yurman at gunpoint, Brown and police said.
Brown was shaken but determined to do all she could to get her dog back.
She sounded an “all paws bulletin” with posters and social media posts. A reward was put up, and it wasn’t long before someone contacted Brown.
“A gentleman called. He was giving me a story. I said, ‘Can you please just send me a photograph of the dog?’ And the moment he sent it, I knew it was my dog,” Brown said.
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After she confirmed it was Yurman, she listened to the man’s story.
“So now, the gentleman is telling me that he bought the dog for $2000 and he just wanted the thousand dollars back. I said, ‘Well the police is giving you $10,000. You got a better deal down the street,'” Brown recalled.
The caller said he didn’t want to get the police involved.
But the police were already involved. Yurman’s odyssey would soon end at a shopping center – after an undercover operation, believe it or not.
Brown took some time to gather the reward money and made plans to meet the people holding her dog at a Papa John’s restaurant on Pennsylvania Avenue.
Brown was nearby, out of sight but not out of earshot, as the detectives got to work.
“They went back and forth, back and forth, and I heard, ‘Got em’!” She said. “And I was like, ‘That is my dog!’”
D.C. police arrested Raphael Lambert Loundermon II and Khaliah Johnson, both 27-year-old residents of Southeast D.C.
They are charged with extortion and receiving stolen property.
For Brown, what she got back was more than property.
What she still hasn’t recovered is peace of mind about walking Yurman again. She says his exercise regimen will be the stairs at home, the backyard and doggie daycare for now.
She’s considering other options, too.
“My breeder told me I needed to buy an inexpensive treadmill for my French bulldog. I was like, ‘Define inexpensive!’” She said with a laugh.
Detectives are still working to identify the suspect who took Yurman.
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