Puppy stolen from Brandon cellphone store; two teens and two adults arrested

Dog kidnapping suspects in court

Two of the four suspects accused of breaking into a cellphone store last week were in court Wednesday. They're not only accused of stealing cellphones, but also a puppy that that was in the store at the time. Kylie Jones reports.

BRANDON, Fla. - Two teenagers, an 18-year-old and a 19-year-old are accused of breaking into a cellphone store in Hillsborough County and stealing cellphones and a French Bulldog.

Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office says the incident happened last week at CellFix on West Brandon Boulevard in Brandon.

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The backstory:

Early on the morning of October 29, Hillsborough County detectives say the owner of CellFix got an alert from his security cameras.

"The store owner received an alert on his phone stating that his store was, the back door was broken into," Detective John Fulton said.

The owner called 911 and started heading to his store. Investigators say surveillance footage showed one of the teens taking a French Bulldog that was inside the store, and two others start putting merchandise in bags.

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"They were taking cellphones and cellphone parts and putting them inside bags," Fulton said.

Detectives say the surveillance footage shows the teens leave, but the owner was watching the live surveillance video as he drove to the store, which showed two people going back into the store.

"At that time, the store owner saw them, spooked them and then two defendants ran one way. Then, one defendant doubled back and shot towards the store owner," Fulton said.

Investigators say the bullets hit the owner's car.

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Detectives later identified four suspects and got a search warrant for an apartment in the Westbury at Lake Brandon complex.

Where was the dog found?

As deputies were tracking the suspects down, they got two tips about the missing dog. One of those tips came from the store owner's brother, who the dog belongs to.

Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

"Someone reached out to him through Instagram saying, 'I have your dog. I know where your dog is.'"

Inside one of the homes where deputies were searching for some of the teens, they found the dog inside a dresser drawer.

Courtesy: Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office

The other side:

The detective told the attorney for one of the suspects, Deshaun Jenkins, 18, that investigators hadn't found fingerprints or forensic evidence at the scene.

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"It's unclear to me how specific the clothing description is depicted in the video," Danny Hernandez, Jenkins' attorney said. "The fact that it was found, or similar clothing was found the next day, does not indicate that it was something that would put my client at the scene. There is no fingerprints at the crime scene."

Marshall's attorney argued he didn't get out of the car, and that there's no evidence that he knew one of the other teens had a gun.

"They did not know the victim was coming," Marshall's attorney said. "They were not planning on robbing the victim."

What's next:

The judge has 24 hours to decide whether the teens will get bond or continue to be held behind bars.