A pair of brazen dog-nappers snatched a “loving and flirty” Yorkshire Terrier named Chanel from a Queens yard when the owner briefly stepped away, according to authorities and the pup’s owner.
Owner Claudia Jaramillo Lopez, 47, told The Post Friday she took her eye off pint-sized Chanel for only two minutes around 6 p.m. Sept. 17 when the opportunistic thieves snatched Chanel from the front lawn of her College Point home.
Chanel — who is 10 years old and “very playful but not with anyone” — initially wouldn’t go with the cold-heated duo when they double-parked outside the 130th Street and 14th Avenue residence and beckoned to her, Lopez said.
They then resorted to grabbing the petite gray and tan pooch out of the yard and carrying her into their Subaru Forester — but she still tried to resist them.
“In the video you can see that they tried to pick her up but she would not get into the car,” Lopez said by phone in a Spanish-language interview. “She’s a smart puppy, she knows where her house is.”
A surveillance image released by the NYPD shows one of the crooks carrying Chanel in his arms.
But by the time the unsuspecting Lopez circled back around the corner with her other Yorkshire Terrier, Leti, Chanel was gone.
“I didn’t see her anywhere,” Lopez said. “I called her name because she would hide in the parking space and when I called she would answer….I was worried looking for her.”
“Simply, I was sure that I was going to find her there because I was sure nobody was going to take her.”
Once Lopez’s husband checked the cameras, the couple realized someone had taken their beloved pet.
Chanel was a charmer in the neighborhood — with passerby often commenting, “Oh she’s so pretty,” Lopez said.
“Chanel was a very happy dog, very loving and flirty,” Lopez added. “She was very flirty, she liked to play with people she was familiar with.”
Chanel was “obedient,” and Lopez’s family never walked her or Leti on leashes “unless we went out to the park or other places,” she said.
“I don’t know why she didn’t follow me that day,” the owner added. “Usually she follows me but that day she decided to stay there.”
The petite tan and gray-colored dog is valued at around $1,200, police said.
Police are still looking for the suspects nearly a month later and released photos of the pair, their gray getaway car and of Chanel.
Anyone with information on their whereabouts is asked to call the NYPD’s Crime Stoppers Hotline at 1-800-577-TIPS (8477) or for Spanish, 1-888-57-PISTA (74782).
The public can also submit their tips by logging onto the Crime Stoppers website at https://crimestoppers.nypdonline.org/, on X @NYPDTips.
