Police in three metro Atlanta counties believe the same man is responsible for stealing dozens of puppies worth thousands of dollars from pet stores.
But investigators don’t believe he acted alone, and he wasn’t in custody in a local jail late Monday.
Christopher Adam Lee of Columbus is accused of burglarizing stores eight times in Gwinnett, DeKalb and Cobb counties beginning in March. After smashing the glass on business doors or windows, Lee and another suspect stuffed puppies into a sack and grabbed cash, police said.
No information was released on how investigators linked Lee to the various crimes, though many of the businesses provided police with security camera footage.
On March 15, 11 puppies worth more than $75,000 were stolen from a Kennesaw-area store, a Petland spokesperson previously told AJC.com.
“Said accused did, in concert with another unknown person, forcibly enter the business of Petland where said accused did steal 11 puppies and $150 cash,” Lee’s arrest warrant states.
According to store officials, the thieves smashed the front door and set off the security system before stealing mostly Yorkies and bulldogs.
Credit: Petland
Credit: Petland
“The two thieves callously threw puppies into large cloth bags, leaving kennel doors open where other puppies could fall and get hurt,” Petland spokeswoman Lauren Petz previously said.
Then on May 1, seven more puppies were stolen from the same store, according to Cobb police. Investigators believe Lee was again involved, his warrant states.
In Cobb, Lee has been charged with two counts of second-degree burglary, both felonies, and two counts of animal cruelty, both misdemeanors, his warrant states.
In April, puppies were stolen from pet stores in Dunwoody, Gwinnett County and Rome.
Two suspects carrying duffel bags stole five puppies worth about $15,000 from the Dunwoody Petland store, according to police. In October, a French bulldog worth $7,000 was stolen from the store. A man placed the puppy in a bag before walking out, according to police.
According to Dunwoody police, Lee is the suspect in four burglaries at Petland.
In Gwinnett, police said two men broke into the Local Breeders pet store, located on Old Norcross Road, and stole 19 puppies worth about $60,000. The suspects took about $400 from the cash registers and then tossed the puppies into two green bags, according to police. Five English bulldogs, four Yorkie-Poos, four Malteses, two Shih-Poos, three Morkies and one Shih-Tzu were stolen from the store, police said.
Two suspects returned to the same pet store 11 days later, that time making off with $500, according to Gwinnett police reports. Lee has been charged in connection to those two burglaries in Gwinnett, in addition to a burglary of a hair and wig shop near Lawrenceville, police said Monday.
And in Rome, 11 puppies worth a total of $47,900 were stolen from a Petland store on Turner McCall Boulevard. According to a witness, three men were seen near the store between 3 and 4 a.m., the report said. An employee called 911 hours later when she arrived to start her shift. The stolen puppies varied in price from $2,900 to $7,300, according to police. The breeds of the stolen dogs included an English bulldog, Aussie klee kai, Boston terrier, cavachon, French bulldog, Great Dane, pug, shiba inu, Victorian bulldog, West Highland terrier and two Yorkshire terriers.
Late Monday, a spokesman for Rome police said no charges had been filed in the case there.
— Please return to AJC.com for updates.
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