LOS ANGELES (AP) — Lady Gaga’s dog walker was shot and two of the singer’s French bulldogs were stolen in
Hollywood during an armed robbery, police said. The singer is offering a $500,000 reward.
The dog walker was shot once Wednesday night and is expected to survive his injuries, according to Los
Angeles Police Capt. Jonathan Tippett, commanding officer of the department’s elite Robbery-Homicide
Division. The man was walking three of Lady Gaga’s dogs at the time but one escaped. That dog has been
recovered safely.
Tippett told The Associated Press that the dogs belong to pop star Lady Gaga. It’s not yet clear if the
dog walker was targeted because of his celebrity client, the captain said.
Lady Gaga is offering the reward for the return of her dogs — whose names are Koji and Gustav — with no
questions asked, according to her representative. An email address for tips, [email protected],
has been set up. The singer is currently in Rome to film a movie.
Police were initially called to North Sierra Bonita Avenue, a street off the famed Sunset Boulevard,
around 9:40 p.m. Wednesday following several 911 calls reporting a man screaming and the sound of a
gunshot, said Capt. Steven Lurie, commanding officer of the department’s Hollywood Division.
The victim, whose name has not been released, was walking the dogs when a four-door sedan pulled over and
two men tried to steal the animals, Tippett said.
The dog walker tried to fight them off and was shot by one of the men wielding a semiautomatic handgun
during the struggle. It’s not yet known if both men were armed.
French bulldogs can cost thousands of dollars. A woman in San Francisco was beaten in January at gunpoint
and three men stole her gray French bulldog puppy named Chloe, police said.
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AP Music Writer Mesfin Fekadu contributed to this report from New York.