Bad Samaritan Of The Year
This story puts a whole new twist on dognapping and ransom. There are some very disturbed individuals out there. I’m posting this as a warning to all parents, of the two-legged variety.
It all started when a 17-year-old girl’s dog went missing. A man called telling her he had found her dog but he wanted money for his safe return.
The girl was at work Friday evening when her family notified her that her dog, Pineapple, a 2-year-old cocker spaniel-toy poodle mix, had disappeared.
Dempkey, calling himself “Anthony,” called the girl – apparently getting the number off the dog’s collar – and told her he had found the dog and wanted $70 for its return.
“At first I was, `OK, someone’s found my dog,”‘ the girl said. “But then when he asked for money and when he said if I didn’t have money he wanted something else, I got scared. He asked for sex.”
The girl said Dempkey also threatened to torture the dog if she didn’t give in to his demands. “I started crying,” she said. “He said, `If you don’t want to do anything or if you don’t want to give up money, I guess you don’t want your dog.”
The girl eventually agreed to meet Dempkey at the El Pollo Loco restaurant at Hawthorne Boulevard and Imperial Highway.
When Dempkey arrived with the dog, he was met instead by the victim’s father and police. He was arrested and the dog was returned, unharmed, to the owner.
Dempkey, it turned out, was a registered sex offender who served a prison term for forced oral copulation, the Daily Breeze reported. He was taken into custody on a suspected parole violation, but police say he could face other charges, including extortion.
Luckily the girl was old enough to realize she needed to tell her parents what happened. A younger or more vulnerable child could easily have been talked into meeting this pervert alone.
While this story had a happy ending it just as easily could have turned tragic. It’s a good idea to talk to your children ahead of time about what to do so they will be prepared in case they are ever confronted with this, or any similar, type of situation.
* Pic of Dempkey courtesy the dailybreeze.com
I could cry with frustration. What a creep. I am so glad that the girl and her pup are safe and unharmed.
What a creepy story. It gives me chills to think of what might have happened to both the young girl and her poor pooch. This is a horrible twist on the rip off/sransome situation. I’m so glad everyone is okay and the jerk is headed back to prison.
Its a shame people like this walk among us
these kinds of people gives shame to the people of the united states. I hope they all get punished!
Early this year some woman tried to steal Sophie & Sadie. The neighbors were all warned about the incident. Yesterday 3 of the young girls in the neighbor stopped by to love up Sophie and they asked what they should do if they saw somebody trying to steal a dog in a neighborhood. I told them, you walk away to the nearest adult and have them call the police. I stressed they are NEVER to approach anybody they do not know. ALWAYS go to an adult they trust. Thank goodness the girl in this story was smart enough and old enough to seek help from an adult. Children need to be protected as well as our pets. I am so glad Dempkey was caught and is now off the street. What he did was disgusting and sick.
This is beyond sick, I hope they lock him up and throw away the key. I’ve heard some pretty messed up stolen pet ransom situations, but nothing quite as disgusting or horrible as this.
This is a creepy story, sounds like Law and Order.