CLEVELAND — Judeilye Rivera felt helpless as she watched burglars enter her home through her Ring camera while at work.
“I was 30 minutes away, and I felt a lot of emotions; I was terrified, too, because they came with guns,” said Rivera.
The three masked men stole Rivera’s nine French Bulldogs in broad daylight on July 15. This happened in the area of West 146th Street and Puritas Avenue in the Bellaire-Puritas neighborhood. Police say those puppies are valued at $90,000.
“We are sad because we see them every day, feed them, play with them, and my son was in love with the puppies. And now, just going down there to the basement and not seeing anything, it feels unreal,” said Rivera.
Rivera says that days before the puppies were stolen, she was receiving threats from an acquaintance claiming he would take her puppies.
“My husband knew him, and he was here a couple times, he knew where my puppies were,” said Rivera.
Cleveland Police arrested one man, who was arraigned Tuesday on grand theft, tampering with evidence and criminal damage charges. However, the two other suspects have still not been identified, and none of the puppies have been recovered.
“We have a lot of stress and anxiety, because there’s nothing we can do,” said Rivera.
Days after the puppies were taken, the family moved away from their home after seeing the toll it was taking on their 6-year-old son.
“He had nightmares and sometimes if he heard something he would say, 'What was that? Are they breaking in?' He would look out the window and say, 'Mom, I think I saw the guy,'” said Rivera.
Despite the circumstances, Rivera is confident their puppies will return home where they belong.
“We really hope to get our puppies back, and for the person to just say where my puppies are is all we want,” said Rivera.
Anyone with information is asked to contact Cleveland Police at 216-623-2535.
