Yesterday we brought you the story of Maru, a dog who was sleeping inside an air conditioned, running mini van, when the car got stolen and later the dog was left inside the vehicle to die from heat exhaustion. The good news is that police have apprehended the man who abandoned Maru to her death.
Nayo Mateo, Maru’s owner, was preparing to do a TV interview outside Weddington Golf and Tennis club in Studio City, Calif., (where his van was found) when he saw the man that stole his van.
The golf club had captured the car thief on camera and his image had been released by authorities. When Mateo was waiting for KCLA 9 to arrive for the interview, he noticed a man watching golfers. Mateo immediately recognize the man from the video and called police.
“I remembered his face, since I saw it in the pictures [police released],” Mateo said.
Twenty-nine-year-old Danny Frist was arrested by police officers who arrived at the scene minutes after receiving Mateo’s call. The arrest was captured on camera.
Reporter Rachel Kim interviewed Frist asking if he had stolen the van. Frist denied this, however, he did acknowledge seeing Maru in the car.
Mateo is happy the person who hurt his beloved dog Maru, whom he called his baby, has been arrested.
“He is going to pay for what he did,” said Mateo. “Now that I know he’s in the [police] car, I hope he’s not going to hurt another dog, or another kid.”
Frist was charged with felony animal cruelty and grand theft.
Watch KCLA 9 video of the arrest.
