Thief likely drugged family dog during home burglary in Southern California

A Sherman Oaks family was left shaken after their beloved French Bulldog was likely drugged while their home was burglarized late last week.  

Danielle Towne told KTLA that on Aug. 29, she, her husband and their baby boy had gone out for just a few hours and had forgotten to activate the alarm system on their home in the 5000 block of Ranchito Avenue.  

Towne said that when the family returned, around 7 p.m., she saw her dog was disoriented, wobbling and in distress.  

“It was very upsetting,” she told KTLA’s John Fenoglio. “It was probably the hardest thing to do deal with that night.”  

As she was about to rush her dog to the animal hospital, Towne quickly realized she’d been burglarized.  

“I looked in our bedroom and noticed it was completely torn apart,” she explained. “I immediately noticed a lot of our stuff was missing.”  

All of her jewelry and family heirlooms, like her mother’s wedding band and her grandmother’s Rolex, were stolen.  

“It was all jewelry. They didn’t take laptops or electronics and stuff,” she said. “It seemed like they were looking for stuff that was really specific.”  

Surveillance cameras captured a man with what appeared to be a white satchel strung over his shoulder as he hopped into a red SUV, which had been circling the block, before the family returned home to find they had been broken into, their bedroom sliding door pried open. 

Investigators with the Los Angeles Police Department have yet to confirm whether they believe the man and the driver of the SUV are suspects in the burglary.  

For her part, Towne said she posted the footage on the social media platform Nextdoor and said several neighbors who had also recently been burglarized had footage of a strikingly similar man getting into a similar red vehicle before speeding away.  

“They said similar things were taken, jewelry and watches and, yeah, same red car,” Towne said. 

After a wave of burglaries in the San Fernando area, police recently announced a string of arrests related to the break-ins that have left residents and business owners scared and frustrated.  

“What I’d like to see is less crime,” Towne said. “We need to do something, there needs to be repercussions, I don’t know. I just want to see everyone safe.”

As for the family’s beloved French Bulldog, Towne said the vet was pretty sure he had been drugged the night of the burglary. Fortunately, he has fully recovered.