Menlo Park man reunited with his kidnapped dog Menlo Park man reunited with his kidnapped dog (May 26, 2004)

By Jonas Raab
Special to the Almanac

A Sunnyvale man and his dog were reunited after Menlo Park police arranged a sting that netted a Menlo Park man and a juvenile girl who were holding the dog for ransom, police said.

After seeing his Honda Civic being driven in East Palo Alto and east Menlo Park, a man told Menlo Park police in the Belle Haven substation that his car, his dog and his cell phone had been stolen from in front of his home in the 1500 block of Tenaka Place in Sunnyvale early on the morning of May 17, said Sgt. Paul Kunkel.

The man called his stolen cell phone and a man answered. The victim said did not care about the phone and car, but wanted his dog back. The man offered to return the dog for $600, police said.

A sting was set up using plain-clothes Menlo Park police detectives. Uniformed officers, who were out of sight, surrounded a meeting place where the man was supposed to exchange money for his dog, said Sgt. Kunkel.

Police said Michael Moore, 40, of Menlo Park and his juvenile female companion arrived at 2:30 p.m. and were arrested on charges of possession of stolen property, conspiracy to commit a felony and extortion. He was booked into San Mateo County jail and she into Hillcrest juvenile facility in San Mateo.

The dog was returned to his owner and the car was later recovered in the 100 block of Newbridge Street in Menlo Park.

Police are looking for another male suspect and ask anyone with information to call the Menlo Park police at 330-6300.

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