A Philadelphia man is facing charges after he allegedly attempted to sell a stolen poodle back to the family of its rightful owner.
Erie Beh, 20, has been charged with two counts of felony theft along with a third felony charge of receiving stolen property, in connection with the investigation by the Towamencin Township Police Department. He is currently free on $5,000 unsecured bail.
During the evening of June 1, a white poodle wearing a pink shirt and pink collar was reported missing from a home along the 100 block of Mainland Square Drive. The following day, the owner’s son-in-law contacted police stating that he was approached by a man while hanging missing dog posters, who stated he had seen a white Suzuki sedan with tinted windows pull up next to the dog, at which point a woman jumped out of the passenger side, grabbed the dog, and fled the scene.
The tipster stated the vehicle was being driven by someone else, however he was unable to see the driver. The vehicle was captured on a neighbor’s surveillance system, according to charging documents.
Two days later, the son-in-law received a text message from an unknown male — later identified as Beh — who said he had seen posts about the missing dog on Facebook and had purchased a similar dog for $3,000 from a woman in a Walmart parking lot in Northeast Philadelphia, police said. Beh sent the son-in-law a picture of the dog he allegedly purchased, which was still wearing the same pink shirt as when it was stolen, according to the complaint.
Beh then asked if he would be compensated for returning the dog “since he is out the $3,000 he paid for her,” the report states.
Police said the son-in-law and Beh agreed to meet at the Royal Farms to reunite the dog with its family, however when Beh arrived at the location, police confronted him and secured the dog. Beh allegedly told police he “figured it was stolen,” and over the course of the conversation, investigators learned he was staying with a woman along the 200 block of South Broad Street, where they found a white Suzuki sedan registered to Beh parked in the driveway.
Court records show charges were filed against Beh on Aug. 19, however he wasn’t taken into custody until Oct. 21. Beh was subsequently arraigned by District Judge Margaret Hunsicker, then released on unsecured bail. His next court appearance is a preliminary hearing on Dec. 7 at 11:15 a.m. in front of District Judge Ed Levine.
Regarding the woman who was seen allegedly grabbing the dog, Towamencin Township Police Chief Tim Troxel said investigators have not been able to confirm the identity of the woman, and Beh would not cooperate with investigators attempting to ascertain the identity of the woman.
Troxel added since Beh was alone when he was allegedly found to be in possession of the dog, there was no probable cause to charge his girlfriend, and when contacted by police, she declined to be interviewed as part of the investigation.
“Attempts were made to interview Beh’s girlfriend, but she was uncooperative and did not agree to be interviewed; and we could not compel her to do so,” Troxel said. “Mr. Beh also refused to identify the female who was seen taking the dog.”
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using court records and the affidavit of probable cause. This story was updated to reflect the child's current custody status.
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