San Leandro Man Arrested for Allegedly Trying to Sell Stolen Puppies on Craigslist

By AUTUMN JOHNSON

A San Leandro man was arrested on Wednesday after he allegedly tried to use Craigslist to sell two German Shepherd puppies taken from the Springtown area of Livermore last week.

Richard Coleman, 30, was arrested for two felonies after police say he was found to have one of the two pups in his possession.

According to police, the victim of the puppy theft found an ad on Craiglist listing her dogs for sale. The victim called and met with the seller, who ran off when he was confronted. The victim contacted the San Leandro Police Department, who was able to contact the seller and was able to "ruse him" into meeting them, later giving up the location of the second puppy.

Lt. Mike Sobek said, "The San Leandro Police Department takes all crimes very seriously, however, this crime struck a nerve with one of our officers and he went that extra step to help recover those puppies and return them to a grateful owner."

According to a flier posted on Livermore Patch, the puppies were taken on March 19 from the area near Scenic and Mimosa in the Springtown area of Livermore.

It is not clear if the puppies were appropriated or if they escaped from their yard or home before being seized.

Livermore Officer Traci Rebiejo said, "To my knowledge, Livermore Police was never called to report a theft of dogs."

The owner was reunited with both puppies. Coleman is facing charges of possession of stolen property and extortion.