A French bulldog that was violently snatched during a walk in the hills above West Hollywood has been renuited with his owner, according to reports broadcast Thursday evening.
Robert Marinelli and Luca were on a morning stroll around 7:30 a.m. Tuesday on the corner of North Wetherly Drive and Shoreham Drive, north of Sunset Boulevard, when Marinelli was punched in the back of the head by a man who emerged from a parked black sedan and grabbed Luca.
Marinelli tried to rescue Luca and was dragged by the car, which left him with injuries to his back and legs. The incident was captured by neighborhood surveillance cameras.
“I had a big bump on my head that I had to get a CAT scan for and more abrasions on my arms and legs,” he told CBS2.
Marinelli had offered a $10,000 reward for Luca’s safe return. It is not known if anyone claimed the reward.
Police described the suspect who grabbed Luca as a Black man in his early 20’s who is about 5 feet, 9 inches tall and weighs about 165 pounds. The suspect was last seen wearing all black clothing with a red vest.
A second suspect who was inside the parked sedan was described only as a female.
Derails about Luca’s return were not immediately available.
What happened to Robert Marinelli and his French bulldog Luca was criminally unacceptable but, $10,000 for a dog when many people are food insecure and perfectly good dogs available for FREE die unclaimed in shelters ❓ Many of the concerns posted (NOT likely from WeHo) would NOT be helped by a lap dog as opposed to a FREE shelter pet. A friend & I found an abandoned puppy in the Hollywood Hills that needed to be nursed back to health &, now with all her shots & vet records. DON’T try to pick her up & make off with her… Read more »
The picture of my nice kind loving pet I found for FREE ❗
I always take the bait on your comments because they generally are exact opposite of everything I believe. Seriously, it is their money and they can spend however they want to. It isn’t their responsibility to pay for others food over a dog that is a part of their family. I’d pay $10,000 for surgery for my dog because she means that much to me. To be totally honest, I think your opinions are terrible on pretty much anything.
Sorry to see you are so jaded when it comes to the rest of humanity❗
“Know-it all’s “” are seldom appreciated nor are they sympathetic characters.
I am in no need of your appreciation and, genuinely hope you are in no need of my sympathy.
Glad to see the bulldog is back with his owner.The owner did state the dog had some medical issues,so perhaps the thieves though better of it and decided to return the dog.
OK, this did not happen in West Hollywood proper,but people in the city love their dogs,so I am not surprised this story picked up steam with the residents.
What happened to him was AWFUL. But the fact that he is so empty and devoid of caring that he would be willing to spend $10,000 on a dog is very sad. Designers have a rep for being visual, shallow and without boyfriends here in Weho at least.
We can’t even walk our dog on the street anymore. How sad is that. That’s how bad things have gotten. Stop voting for these ultra progressive policies. They are destroying our ability to live a peaceful and safe life.
Do you realize there are thousands of people in West Hollywood who walk their dog without any issues?
Defund the SHE .. Shyne, Horvath and Erickson from pushing their dangerous agenda of no cops on the beat. Just neighborhood volunteers protecting WEHO by arming themselves with purple nail polish.
The obsession with toilets and nail polish has reached new levels.
Especially when it involves Our Lady of WEHO – John
“Erika” Erickson! We know you do his nails, does JOHN have a new color for 2022. Like TransZilla Blue?
Change your screen name all you like, we all know it’s you and ONLY you posting all that nonsense ❗ 🤣
This is exactly why I walk my dogs in daylight, I have a taser. It is BS that WHCC does not have foot patrol. The West Hollywood Sheriff contract is paid $60,000,000
$60,000,000???? Another leftist nut job spreading falsehoods
WRONG!
The West Hollywood Sheriff’s Station operates on an annual budget of approximately $19.8 million making West Hollywood among the highest paying customers of the Sheriff Department’s corruption. That does NOT include payouts made by the County of Los Angeles and the City of West Hollywood to cover Sheriff Department misconduct such as the $6 million+ to a woman who had been raped by a sheriff’s deputy during a traffic stop ❗
Geez you had to go way back 6 years to find a large payout huh? Bet you’re all butt hurt you can’t file a frivolous suit against the LASD
Florida resident says what? No one cares what you have to say. Damn, life must be a bore over in that covid cesspool of a state.
You care what I say since you’re in awe of my great vocabulary Chrissy. This I know, that bowel movement AOC had to leave NY to have fun in our great state of Florida. All the Clorox bleach in the world won’t clean the stench that ho will leave behind.
Great vocabulary? Uh, where?
“This I know, that bowel movement AOC had to leave NY to have fun in our great state of Florida.”
You mean because her mother lives there?
Sad but very common story in LA due to increased crime, a radical left progressive DA and weak leadership in WeHo. Expect more smash & grabs, car jackings, thefts, robberies, assaults. Make sure to vote moderate to republican in mid term next year. Thanks.
The robbers who took this dog know how valuable these kinds of dogs are and know owners will keep the dogs in tiptop shape.There is a market,black and otherwise for these French bulldogs and robbers will go to any length to get them.
French bulldog owners need to be aware of this and plan for any action. Maybe the owner shouldn’t have tried to rescue his pet,but I am glad he wasn’t more injured.It might be wise to consider surrendering any dog,but it would be helpful to get an description of any robber or car involved in the thieve.
I would NEVER surrender my pet.
we will look out for any stolen dog at all times.
This is very sad. But to be expected in West Hollywood under the leadership of self-serving political hacks like the SHE. Shyne, Horvath and Erickson. Instead of cops on the beat, we have defund the police. Plus, we are totally surrounded by Los Angeles except they are short west side adjacent to Beverly Hills. There’s no border wall. The dog’s owner was hurt, emotionally and viciously, and is offering a $10,000 reward for the return of his pet. Perhaps the city should match the reward. Because basically it is the city’s problem and it’s totally inept political leaders. Instead of… Read more »
I agree
Honestly worthless celebrities, socialites and, their followers are responsible for a fad making these lap dogs no better than a shelter pet an overpriced commodity in dangerous times. I commend the City Council of the Great City of West Hollywood for their priorities and, NOT jumping to the whims of spoiled rich people upset about the consequences of their own stupidity getting them into trouble! Like cops will really help you 🤣 , when they are not using small defenseless animals for target practice, they’re using them to train their attack dogs ❗
West Hollywood may be a great City but the City Council is anything but great. And I’m talking about the SHE … is a collection of boring dreary little nobody woke dopes with their ridiculous agendas. Cops are better on the street than a group of volunteers who will eventually get shot in their neighborhood watch group. When some person pulls a gun on them and shoots them. While they ask is it registered?
No cops would ever be walking around in the hills above Weho in any scenario. It’s not a heavily trafficked area.
I have a question for you though: Why do you switch between so many names on here in the comments? You’re the only one trying to make “SHE” happen. It’s a dead giveaway for your unhinged rants.
“In the hills…?” Everything above Sunset is LAPD. As for the SHE – read all the comments. Shyne, Horvath and Erickson are loathed. They’re unhinged thinking their dreary woke LOL agenda is appreciated by anyone except the loonies who don’t regret voting for them. Less than 11 months we can make Horvath history by voting her out of office and not elected her as a LA County Supervisor. Hopefully she will crawl back to East Cleveland.
So you chose to ignore the second part of my comment?
You praise the Counciltwits for not helping these victims of ghetto thugs and call them “spoiled rich people” for owning a nice dog, yet you want the same Wacko Counciltwits to raise the minimum wage for state supported socialism to support uneducated and undeserving takers of my money? Doesn’t surprise me from a nut job.
And you must think only the crackhead state subsidized divas and hired help deserve a nice dog? Go buy yourself a gerbil for the one you lost.
Stay in Florida. No one cares what you think.
So says the princess diva who loves to troll my comments. Now go back to your low paying job hired help.
Your comment serves little purpose except to expose your bigotry.
You are offensive.
Thank you, I’m glad you find my hatred for low slung welfare crackhead queens so enlightening to your socialist agenda.
Your hatred and ignorant bigotry is likely an embarrassment to your family in how you choose to spend all the free time enabled by your inheritance ❗ 🤣
I have to agree with you. I do not wish harm to anyone or anything, but these people with designer dogs are so clueless, they don’t even realize they’re part of the problem! Rescue a dog, ffs, they deserve their own Instagram account too!
Completely agree. This city has been run into the ground.
Yup. What took 35 years to build only took a year or so to destroy. And it is being destroyed.
LOL so dramatic. This incident didn’t even happen in West Hollywood.
Instead of blathering on endlessly about the “SHE” you could consult a map and see that this crime was in Los Angeles, as noted in the phrase “in the hills above West Hollywood.” But hey, why stray from your agenda?
Get real. West Hollywood is a strip Mall plus the Sunset Strip for about a couple of miles. The residents aren’t running to all the hotels and restaurants etc every hour. So most of the people coming in here are what they would call out of towners. So are the crooks and the criminals. As for the dreadful SHE, these two bit political hacks think they’re in Congress already. Pushing an agenda that has nothing to do with the city of West Hollywood operation. Which are safe streets, lights, traffic, sewers, parking, protecting businesses and of course mainly the citizens.… Read more »
This robbery has nothing to do with the Weho City council.
Save your unhinged rant about toilets for another article.
It’s fun commenting and to hear from Greeneyes…the person who does Erica John Erickson’s nails.
How old are you? I refuse to believe any mature adult would care this much about a person’s nails. It so pathetic
John Erickson is a flamboyant ridiculous narcissistic native of Oshkosh Wisconsin who loves purple nail polish. It is now part of his political brand along with painting illegal crosswalks which went unprosecuted by the City of West Hollywood. That cost thousands of dollars to Repaint. Next thing he will probably do is come in drag to the city council meetings. But he may get the wrath of Lindsey Horvath and Septic Shyne because John’s statuastic height will make him a stunning woman.
It really sounds like you want to have sex with John Erickson at this point.
Yup.
I agree.
I feel for you. I too am a French Bulldog owner. Your loss is tremendous. I hope and pray Luca finds his way back to you safe and sound. If the thieves are reading this, please dont hurt the dog. Please leave him in a safe place so he can be reunited with his owner.
I doubt the violent robbers know how to read. And…considering they dragged the poor man several feet on the gravel with their car, and took his beloved pet, they’re not going to listen to any impassioned pleas either…they only want easy money out of this, and no one else’s well-being matters to them. Some people are just rotten to the core. That poor man was lucky they didn’t kill him. Meanwhile, there are some idiots here blaming the victim for buying an expensive dog rather than empathizing with the innocent victim. To those individuals I say, I hope you’re next.… Read more »