Ali Zacharias recalled desperately clinging to the hood of the getaway car as it sped through downtown Los Angeles. Inside the vehicle was the thieves' precious cargo: Onyx, their French bulldog and “companion.”
Zacharias said his only thought was, “I'm not leaving this car. … I held on to the windshield wipers, thinking they wouldn't move if I were in the car.”
They did it.
“Before I knew it, we were going 40 miles an hour,” he said. She rode on the hood for a short distance before the car swerved and she rolled away. She was bruised and cut, but not seriously injured, she said in an interview with The Times on Sunday.
But as Zacharias watched the car disappear, she felt heartbroken. Onyx had disappeared.
Onyx, a French bulldog with one blue and one green eye, was stolen from his owner in downtown Los Angeles on January 18.
(Alí Zacarías)
The terrifying scene was captured on video, which was then posted to Instagram and has since gone viral.
Since the January 18 incident, Zacharias has been the victim for the second time of a scammer taking advantage of his desperation to find Onyx. The individual took her on a “futile search” on Sunday to extract $50, for “gas money,” the person claimed, telling The Times.
Los Angeles police are investigating the incident but could not be reached for comment Sunday.
French bulldogs are one of the most popular small breed dogs in the world, according to the American Kennel Club, “especially among city dwellers.” They are known for their square heads, bat-like ears, and charming disposition. Expensive and in high demand, dogs have been a favorite target for thieves in recent years in the Los Angeles area.
Two of Lady Gaga's French bulldogs were stolen in February 2021 and her dog walker was shot and wounded during the robbery. The woman who recovered them and later filed a lawsuit, attempting to claim the $500,000 reward, was found to be involved with the dog kidnappers. Most recently, thieves stole 12 purebred French bulldogs, including a 10-month-old show dog named Roll X, from a Gardena pet store.
Zacharis' heartbreak began when the West Hollywood woman, who says she makes clothing, was having lunch with Onyx at Whole Foods in downtown Los Angeles on Grand Avenue near 8th Street. Onlookers watched the 44-year-old woman interact with her dog. The black and white spotted French bulldog is just over a year old and has different colored eyes, the left one blue and the right green.
“They were watching me feed him meatballs and white fish. …I pamper him.”
He went under the table where she was sitting; She let him go while she explored. The next thing she knew, she said, a woman had picked up Onyx and was leaving with him.
Onyx is just over a year old.
(Alí Zacarías)
“I thought it was a misunderstanding,” Zacharias said, so he followed him and called the woman, who got into a white Kia Forte. And yet, she “didn't highlight the fact that my dog was stolen. …she was not in that mode.”
So he tried to follow the woman into the car, which had four people in it, before she was pushed out. They closed the door. Zacharias said he realized they were “about to leave with my dog, so I stood in front of the car and I was putting my hands up, like, 'Stop, don't go,' and they hit me and I fell. on the hood.”
When he tried to describe to his loved ones what had happened, they were not able to appreciate it, he said, until Saturday, when he became aware of a video circulating on social media showing those terrifying moments on the hood of the car. .
“I found out about this video on Instagram and it changed my whole world,” she said, “because I felt completely alone.”
The video, taken by witness Harrison Pessy, has sparked a lot of interest in the media and social media channels, and Zacharias said he hoped it would help police solve the case.
“I hope the next story on this is a reunification story.”
A poster promising a reward circulated for the theft of a French bulldog in downtown Los Angeles on January 18.
(Alí Zacarías)
