A 23-year-old Sandy Springs man arrested and charged with snatching a $1,800 pooch from a Dunwoody pet shop is the same "Romyo" who denied anything to do with the theft, police said Wednesday.
Timothy Cadarral Cannon -- whose "stage name" is Romyo Mays Cassadine -- has been charged with felony larceny/shoplifting and taken to DeKalb County Jail, according to Sgt. Mike Carlson of the Dunwoody Police Department.
“He’s one and the same man,” Carlson told the AJC.
Cannon entered the Petland store on Ashford Dunwoody Road about 1 p.m. Jan. 22 and told a clerk he wanted to buy a puppy, Carlson said. The clerk brought out a purebred Maltese and let Cannon hold the dog.
“When the clerk turned away, Cannon fled out the front door to an awaiting car,” dropping a cell phone as he fled, Carlson said.
That cell phone helped police identify the suspect, and an Atlanta police officer recognized the man through Atlanta Crime Stoppers information, the Dunwoody spokesman said.
Atlanta picked up Cannon on Monday and turned him over to Dunwoody police.
Last Saturday, an unidentified man returned the puppy to the Petland store. It is not known who that man is, and investigators would like to speak with him, Carlson said.
The man who stole the dog told the store clerk his name was “Romeo,” the store’s manager told the AJC. In his public Facebook page, a 25-year-old man who said his name is Romyo Cassadine insisted he was innocent.
"In spite of recent events and rumors, I would like to clarify that I had NO personal involvement in any theft," he wrote on Saturday. "I ... have convinced those persons who were at fault to return the dog, in efforts to clear myself and prevent any further slander/discredit of my name."
In the man’s most recent Facebook posting, written Monday, he said, “I’m more than a conqueror through Jesus Christ, and he's gonna bring me out alright. It's amazing grace that’s brought me safe thus far, and grace is gonna lead me home.”
Police continue to investigate the incident. Anyone with information on the case was asked to contact Dunwoody police Detective Andrew Thompson at 678-382-6921.
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