Man Pleads Innocent to Holding Dog for Ransom : Crime: It’s the second dognaping case filed in the Valley in three months. A woman is being hunted in the first incident.
VAN NUYS — A Northridge man accused of extortion for allegedly holding a family pet for ransom pleaded not guilty Friday in the second San Fernando Valley dognaping case filed in less than three months.
Damani Kiambo Grey, 19, is charged with abducting a 7-year-old Boston terrier named Maude from the Kemp family of Woodland Hills on Tuesday and demanding $500 for the dog’s safe return.
Police arrested Grey Wednesday in a sting operation at a Ralphs supermarket on Ventura Boulevard after Grey allegedly called the dog’s owners and demanded money.
“Maude is happily back in the arms of her owners,†Henri and Sandy Kemp, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Robert L. Cohen.
Van Nuys Municipal Judge Leland Harris ordered Grey held in lieu of $25,000 bail and scheduled a Jan. 26 preliminary hearing.
The case comes on the heels of another dognaping incident involving Gizmo, a pet belonging to Virginia Davis of North Hills.
Vera Waynes, 20, of Encino, allegedly abducted Gizmo from a Pic ‘N’ Save store in the 15700 block of Sherman Way on Oct. 29 and later demanded ransom. Davis reportedly had left the dog in her car and returned to find it missing.
Later that evening, “there’s a message on Davis’ answering machine and a female voice says, ‘If you want your dog back, it’s going to cost you $200,’ †Cohen said.
Later, Davis took a live call from a woman who identified herself as Vera and who agreed to accept $100 for return of the animal, according to police. But when Davis went to the prearranged meeting, no one showed up.
Late on the night of Nov. 2, Davis and a friend responded to a knock on her front door, Cohen said. Waynes and an unidentified man were there with the dog, he said. When Waynes agreed to accept $20 for returning Gizmo, Davis went to get the money. But she returned to find that the suspects had left the dog and fled, according to a police report.
Davis’ friend, John O’Neill, had pulled out a gun, prompting the suspects to flee, leaving the dog behind, Cohen said.
However, Davis and O’Neill obtained a license plate number that led authorities to Waynes.
Waynes has failed to appear for a court appearance and is currently being sought by authorities on an extortion charge.
Cohen said the two dognaping cases appear to be unrelated.
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