Caught on camera: Dog returned to tourists but Fort Lauderdale beach thief still out there

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – A good Samaritan is being credited with returning a French bulldog swiped from a hotel in Fort Lauderdale beach to its owner, but the thief has yet to be found.

Danaja Brinkley told Local 10 News that her French bulldog, Georgie, disappeared from a Fort Lauderdale beach hotel.

Brinkley, her family, and the ninth-month-old dog were visiting Fort Lauderdale beach from Richmond, Va.

She said it happened around 3 a.m. Wednesday at the Cambria Hotel on North Ocean Boulevard.

“We were at the bar of this hotel and hanging out in the lobby,” Brinkley said.

Brinkley said the dog was off his leash and she believes Georgie may have heard some sounds and wandered into the hallway.

That’s when she said she could see on surveillance video shown to her by the hotel’s manager that it was a woman who scooped up Georgie and left with the dog.

(See surveillance below.)

“She was a white female dressed in all black with red slides, had a hoodie on and a mask. She played with him for like two seconds . . . looks like she couldn’t decide if she was going to pick him up or not. She picked him up and carried him out of the hotel,” Brinkley said.

The family was offering a cash reward of $3,000, but it isn’t clear if the Samaritan received that money.

If you have any information about the woman, give Fort Lauderdale police at call at (954) 764 4357.


About the Authors

Saira Anwer joined the Local 10 News team in July 2018. Saira is two-time Emmy-nominated reporter and comes to South Florida from Madison, Wisconsin, where she was working as a reporter and anchor.

Christian De La Rosa joined Local 10 News in April 2017 after spending time as a reporter and anchor in Atlanta, San Diego, Orlando and Panama City Beach.

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