Close to three months after the dognapping of Lady Gaga’s two dogs, in which the dog walker was shot, five suspects have been arrested and charged with robbery and attempted murder. Among these suspects is the woman who returned the stolen dogs shortly after the robbery.
In a press statement released on Thursday, April 29th, 2021, detectives from the Los Angeles Police Department stated that they did not believe that the robbery was a targeted attack. The detectives believed that the thieves were not aware that the dogs belonged to Lady Gaga.
Caught In An Investigation
According to the detectives, the motive for the robbery, which happened on February 24th, 2021, was monetary gain from the sale of the two French Bulldogs. Such dogs are usually in high demand, with the cost of a French Bulldog pup sometimes running into thousands of dollars.
Following the robbery, the popstar announced on her Instagram page that she would pay a $500,000 reward to anyone who helped her get reunited with her dogs, no questions asked.
Two days after the robbery, a woman got in touch with Lady Gaga’s team, and later the police, claiming she had found the dogs abandoned. At the time, the police believed that the woman was “uninvolved and unassociated” with the robbery.
However, investigators later found out that the woman, who has been identified as Jennifer McBride, was in a relationship with the father to one of the suspects in the robbery. At the time of publishing this article, it was still not clear whether McBride had received the $500,000 reward from Lady Gaga.
The other suspects who have been arrested in connection with the robbery are 18-year-old James Jackson, 27-year-old Lafayette Whaley, and 19-year-old Jaylin White. The three are currently being charged with second degree robbery, conspiracy to commit robbery, and attempted murder.
Incident Aftermath And Charges Filed
According to the authorities, James Jackson has been identified as the shooter and will be facing two additional charges of carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle and assault with a firearm. Jaylin White, on the other hand, will be facing an additional charge of forceful assault in a manner likely to produce great bodily injury.
Being the father to Jaylin White, Harold White was placed under arrest. White, together with his lover McBride will both be charged with being accessories to a robbery. McBride will also be charged with handling stolen property, while Harold will face an additional count of being in possession of a firearm.
According to the Los Angeles Police Department, all the suspects, except for Jennifer McBride, are documented gang members. The five suspects are currently in custody, with a bail of $1 million each.
At the time of publishing this, Lady Gaga had not made any comment on her social media pages concerning the arrests. Meanwhile, Ryan Fischer, the dog walker who was shot during the robbery is out of hospital and still recovering at home.
