A Florida woman is in jail after disappearing with another woman’s dog.
Christina Brady, 46, is facing several charges including the assault of an officer and larceny.
Marcia Dooly said it all began when a "bubbly, friendly woman" showed up at her home, introducing herself as a new neighbor.
Dooly lives with her 4-year-old Great Dane, Max.
“He watches out for me. He’s more or less my guard dog,” Dooly said.
A woman came to Dooly’s door Monday and introduced herself as a new neighbor.
Dooly mentioned that her dog walker was out of town. That’s when the Brady offered to take him for a walk.
“I said, ‘Well, OK. Just go around the block. That will be fine.’ She said, ‘Oh, but first I have to go to (a nearby) beach,’” Dooly explained.
“She had a great big white Jeep, and she proceeded to--with (Max) on the leash--put him in the back of her Jeep and take off,” Dooly said.
Dooly yelled after Brady, but the woman told Dooly she would be back in an hour.
“Well, the hour came and went, and it became two and then three hours, and I was really alarmed,” Dooly said.
After three hours, Dooly called the St. Johns County Sheriff's Office. In the meantime, Brady returned with the dog.
Deputies say she also backed her Jeep into a neighbor's home and became aggressive and resisted arrest, scratching and ripping a deputy's uniform. The deputy noted on the report that the suspect had approached homes with claims that she'd bought property nearby before.
Brady was also arrested last month by St. Augustine Beach police for trespassing.
Dooly says she should not have trusted a stranger and believes senior citizens are often targeted.
“It's a dangerous thing. I should have never let my dog go with her. I think there are too many valuable lessons here about vulnerability, gullibility, and of course, to call the Sheriff's Department,” Dooly said.
Brady is currently in the St. Johns County detention center. Her bond is set just below $10,000.
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