Daytona Beach, FL – A Daytona Beach man under pretrial supervision is arrested again, this time for stealing a pair of toy poodle puppies from a Brevard County woman trying to sell them online.
25-year-old Lethario Haddocks was arrested around 9:30 PM Wednesday near the corner of Bellevue Avenue and South Nova Road following a brief foot chase.
As of 2 PM Thursday, Haddocks is held at VCJ on $4,500 bond on charges of felony grand theft, resisting arrest and felony animal cruelty.
Haddocks had 1 of the 2 toy poodles – who appeared “dehydrated” and “deprived of proper care” – in a backpack he was carrying when caught, according to the arrest report. The Daytona Beach Police Department says officers are still trying to find the other dog.
It all started on December 1st when the owner of those dogs – a 35-year-old Cocoa woman – posted a Craigslist advertisement aimed at selling the poodles, per the report.
The woman told DBPD Haddocks emailed her about the dogs and they agreed to meet at Samuel Butts Park on Bellevue Avenue to make the exchange after agreeing on a price.
According to the woman, Haddocks passed by her on foot a few times while she waited at the park and eventually approached her with cash in hand, but then took off with the puppies after the woman discovered he shorted her by $650.
After reporting the incident to DBPD, the victim called detectives back on Tuesday and told them she found her dogs up for sale again on Craigslist. She was “adamant” that the man she spoke to when she called the phone number posted in the ad was the same man who stole her puppies, per the report.
A DBPD detective sent a text to the phone number listed in the ad and arranged a face-to-face meeting at the Sunoco gas station on the corner of Bellevue and Nova in order to “buy” the dogs.
Per the report, Haddocks met the detective at the gas station and offered to sell her marijuana first, which she declined. Hammocks then rode away promising to come back with the dogs, according to DBPD.
It was soon after he came back, per the report, that Haddocks tried to run away on foot after spotting the arrival of several unmarked police vehicles. DBPD officers caught up with Hammocks soon after he crossed Nova.
When questioned, Haddocks denied stealing the dogs but did admit to buying the dogs from someone else. He was arrested after the owner of the dogs identified him in a photo lineup.
VCJ records show Haddocks has been booked there 9 other times since January 2009, including most recently in August 2014 on a charge of aggravated battery on a pregnant woman. He was allowed to leave VCJ while awaiting trial in that case.
Lethario Haddocks (mugshot courtesy VCJ)
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