It’s every dog owners’ worst nightmare: their dog stolen from their home with no trace of where the pup could be. Thankfully, that isn’t a likely hazard for most of us but imagine how great the risk is for celebrities. Whether they are looking for reward money or the dognapper is just an obsessed fan that wants to abduct the pet of their favorite celeb, the risk of having a dog stolen is a very likely threat for famous folks.
Earlier this week a man from North Dakota was arrested after police officers at the Washington D.C. precinct investigated him based on an anonymous tip they received that he was in town to abduct Bo Obama. The Obama family has two Portuguese water dogs, Sunny and Bo, who are often seen at White house events and in First Family photographs.
The man, Scott Stockert, was supposed to appear in Washington D.C. Superior Court yesterday on firearms charges for the incident that occurred on Wednesday, January 6, 2016. The event took place at a Hampton Inn located next to the Washington Convention Center.
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The Secret Service reported the tip to the local police department and an officer was sent to investigate. Once on scene, the officer was able to track down Stockert, and the man admitted to having two weapons (a rifle and a shotgun) in his truck. He told the officer that the guns were not loaded, but there was ammunition for both in the vehicle as well.
As is the case in many cities and states, it is illegal to possess unregistered firearms in Washington D.C. While searching the vehicle cops found a 12-gauge shotgun and a black bolt action rifle, along with a billy club, a machete and more than 300 rounds of ammunition. Now here’s where the police report gets really interesting.
After being arrested, Stockert told police officers that he was the son of Marilyn Monroe and John F. Kennedy and that he had come to the country’s capital city to announce his campaign to run for president. He said he would run on the platform of offering a $99 per month healthcare plan.
No, I’m not making this up, and it gets even better. Clearly the man has mental issues, which is nothing to joke about, but the situation itself is quite humorous. According to court documents, Stockert also told authorities that he was Jesus Christ.
Although the court documents include some other funny details of the incident, they don’t specify why Stockert allegedly wanted to dognap Bo Obama. As Bo is the eldest of the two Obama family dogs, he holds the title of the First Dog of the U.S., so that may be the reason that Stockert wanted him instead of Sunny.
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Online court documents state that Stockert was released from custody yesterday, but the man has to wear an ankle monitor. I’m sure the Obama family doesn’t lose much sleep over threats like this, as they are heavily protected by trained Secret Service agents at all times, but the threat to their beloved pooch must have been unnerving.
Did you know that Bo was actually a gift to the First Family back in 2008 from then Senator Ted Kennedy? When President Obama was elected to office that year he told the world that his daughters had earned their new pet and the search for a First Dog was on.
Some areas have a higher statistic of dognapping instances than others. If you’re worried that your dog may be abducted, the best thing that you can do is equip him with a microchip. If the dog is ever taken to a veterinarian’s office, shelter or rescue organization that reads microchips, they will quickly find out that the dog was stolen – as long as you report the theft to the authorities of course.
