An Aurora woman told police she thwarted two would-be burglars who were trying to steal her dog, which she said is worth $5,000.
The 42-year-old woman said it was about 1:30 p.m. Monday when someone knocked on the front door of her apartment in the 200 block of Bevier Place.
Not knowing the man at the door, the woman ignored his knocks, but kept a close eye on him, she told police.
She saw the man walk around to the rear of the building, and figured he was visiting someone at another apartment, police said. At that point, she quit watching him, and went about her business, Aurora Police Department spokesman Dan Ferrelli said.
A few minutes later, the woman heard her dog, a Shar Pei mix, barking loudly from the cellar where it had been caged. She walked outside to find the cellar door wide open, she said.
When the woman looked down into the cellar, she saw two men trying to steal the dog.
Ferrelli said she identified one of the men as the man who had knocked on her door.
According to Ferrelli, the woman yelled at the men to leave the dog alone, but they refused. She then walked to the front of the building and took down part of the license plate number of the vehicle she thought the men were using, police said.
When she approached the men again, this time with news about having noted their license plate number, the men let go of the dog, ran up the stairs, past the woman and entered a black, Honda Odyssey.
The vehicle sped away northbound on Bevier Place to westbound Benton Street, Ferrelli said.
Police said both men were described as Hispanic. The man who knocked on the woman’s door is described as a tall, skinny man with a thin mustache and thin beard. He was wearing a black Chicago Bulls jacket.
The other man is described as having long hair, and wearing black pants and a white jacket with two gray stripes on the front.
Anyone with information about the men is asked to call Aurora Police Department investigators at 630-256-5500 or Crime Stoppers at 630-892-1000.