Five arrested over violent Lady Gaga dognapping – including woman who returned them
Lady Gaga’s dogs were stolen and her dog walker shot. (Instagram)
Five people have been arrested in connection with Lady Gaga’s dognapping, including the woman who initially returned the French bulldogs, Koji and Gustav.
In February, two men shot Lady Gaga’s friend and dog walker Ryan Fischer in Los Angeles, California, and snatched two of her French bulldogs, leaving Fischer “bleeding on the sidewalk”.
After the dognapping attracted the interest of the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Lady Gaga offered a $500,000 reward, the pups were returned unharmed the next day.
Now, three people – James Jackson, 18, Jaylin White, 19, and Lafayette Whaley, 27 – have been charged with one count each of attempted murder and robbery, the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) said in a statement on Thursday according to the Associated Press.
Two more people, Harold White, 40, and Jennifer McBride, 50, have each been charged with accessory attempted murder. White is the father of Jaylin, and is in a relationship with McBride.
Strangely, the LAPD said, McBride was the one who “reported that she found the dogs and responded to the reward email to return the dogs” and “ultimately brought the dogs to LAPD Olympic Station”.
While initially authorities suspected the crime may have been part of a “gang initiation“, they said they did not believe that the dognappers were motivated by the dogs belonging to Lady Gaga, but rather by “the great value of the breed of dogs”.
All five suspected are being held on $1 million bail as investigations continue.
Last month, Fischer gave an update on his recovery, revealing that part of his lung had to be removed after the shooting.
In an Instagram post, he said that while he felt he was “recovering remarkably fast”, his lung had suddenly “collapsed”.
He had to undergo surgery to remove part of it, but has since been discharged from hospital to recover at home.
He added: “Now that I’m finding my way in the outside world where triggers are real and working through trauma is WAY more than dealing with one unfortunate moment in life.
“I look back at my exit from the hospital and smile that I continue to approach each day the same way.”
