'Don't hurt her': Toronto father recounts alleged carjacking after dog taken in SUV
Police asking for help to find Roxy, a 4-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever
A man whose dog was left inside an SUV that was taken in an alleged carjacking Wednesday said he had just dropped his daughter to school when the suspect approached.
Josh Miller told CBC Toronto he was in a middle school parking lot in a line of cars waiting to get out, when a man approached him "fairly aggressively," and spoke to him through the window.
"He just said: 'Get out of the car right now or I'm going to have to hurt some of the kids at the school,' something along those lines," Miller said.
"I was obviously completely shocked. And I just said, yeah, no problem. I grabbed my phone, opened the door, got out of the car and said: 'Go ahead it all yours.'"
In a news release, police said the alleged carjacking happened around 8:50 a.m. in the area of Bloor Street W. and The East Mall.
They're now appealing to the public for help finding Roxy, a four-year-old chocolate Labrador retriever, as well as the Jeep Grand Cherokee she was inside.
Miller said the man apologized, saying he was sorry to take the vehicle, but that "they f--ked my life."
"Then I said: 'Yeah, all good, just go ahead, take the car.; He took off. I was relieved, obviously, nobody got hurt," Miller said.
"And that's when I realized a minute or two later that, just through all the shock and commotion, that I'd forgotten that our dog was in the car."
According to police, the man drove away with Roxy still inside. The SUV is white with black roof rails, chrome running boards and licence plate CVRB 054, police said.
Miller said he just wants the dog back and he doesn't care about the SUV. "Don't hurt her," he said.
"She's like a part of the family, and yeah, we just hope obviously that we get her back, but even more importantly, that she doesn't get hurt," he added.
"I hope that if anybody sees her that they shouldn't be worried. She's really, really friendly. Don't be scared of her. Just grab her for us, please."
The suspect is described as male, approximately 30 years old, between five feet, eight inches and six feet tall with a medium build. He has a light-coloured beard and was wearing a black jacket, black winter pants and black earmuffs.
In a social media post, Peel police said it is possible the suspect made his way to that region.
Anyone with information that could help investigators is asked to contact Toronto police or leave anonymous tip with Crime Stoppers.