A woman says her dog is recovering after police say it was pepper-sprayed during a home break-in Friday night in Lake Balboa.
Visibly shaken, Janistie Medina says she feared the worst after her security system alerted her that a door had been opened.
“I checked my cameras, and they were all disabled and turned off,” Medina said. “So I called the police.”
Medina came rushing home after learning from the Los Angeles Police Department that burglars had broken into her home and that her dog was in danger.
The LAPD said someone had smashed through the kitchen door window. The only one home at the time was Medina’s 8-year-old German shepherd, Samson.
“I was just really scared that something worse had happened because I could hear him barking on the cameras once they were back online,” Medina said. “It was his bark, but it wasn’t like his normal bark, like he sounded like he was in pain.
“I think they pepper-sprayed him once in there, and then were going around the house and then went to go into my bedroom, and he probably followed them, and he was barking some more, and then they pepper-sprayed him again and then locked him in my bathroom.”
Medina is still shaken after her sense of security was shattered. She says the material things that were stolen, including purses and jewelry, can be replaced. She’s just relieved Samson is OK.
“It’s irredeemable, and I don’t know what kind of person you have to be to do something like that to an animal,” Medina said.
The LAPD says it is still investigating the burglary and has not yet released a description of those involved.