Dog walker helps catch alleged burglar

WEST ROXBURY, Mass. -- An area dog walker helped catch an alleged burglar as he tried to escape her friend’s home on Tuesday.

She's a dog walker who doesn't just teach dogs neat tricks. Recently, she taught a suspected criminal a much needed lesson.

“I was going to pick up a dog to take him to him afternoon play group, and when I went in I noticed the second door was partially open and so I went through the door I said, ‘Hello,’ and I saw a man going out the back door with a duffle bag over his shoulder,” said Julienne Antonino.

Instinctively, Julienne Antonino ran after the alleged burglar.

“He took off down the street and I ran following, yelling, ‘Police! Police!’” Antonino said.

The Roslindale woman runs New Leash on Life, taking care of 25 dogs a day.

She never imagined her active job would give her a leg up over a suspected criminal.

“He was slowing down from time to time and he kept dropping stuff on the ground that was picking up her jewelry,” Antonino said. “When he really started slowing down his pace I didn’t want to get too close to him so I told him if he dropped the bag I’ll just let him go, ‘If you drop the bag I won’t follow you anymore.’”

At the same time, police were rounding the corner. They took over the situation and arrested 36-year-old Terrence Kelley.

For the dog walker turned crime fighter, there was no need to sing her praises. It was all in a day’s work.

“I wasn't planning on tackling him or anything like that, but I just didn’t want him to get away,” Antonino said.

The suspect did what Antonino told him to do and he dropped the bag.

Police were able to recover and return all of the stolen goods to their proper owner.

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