Walnut Creek Woman, Dog Reunited After Car Stolen With Pooch Inside

WALNUT CREEK, CA — The search for a dog who went missing Tuesday from Walnut Creek was successful and the pooch was unharmed, police reported on social media.

A be-on-the-lookout alert was issued Tuesday when Maddie, a schnauzer, was taken along with her owner's car from a Walnut Creek gas station.

According to Walnut Creek police, 26-year-old Oakley resident William Austin Smith was admitted Sept. 1 to a hospital in Walnut Creek for issues related to fentanyl usage and was released from the hospital around 11 a.m. Tuesday.

Smith was captured on video promptly stealing a car belonging to an elderly handicapped woman, police said. The woman was at a Chevron gas station and when she got out of the driver's seat for a few minutes, Smith took off with her car and dog, police said.

The car was found by Oakley police in a Lowe's parking lot off of Lone Tree Way in Antioch. Smith was taken into custody but Maddie was no longer in the car and her whereabouts were not known.

In an attempt to find Maddie, Oakley police searched two locations Smith was known to frequent.

When their efforts were not successful, Oakley police took to social media and asked for the public's help. Oakley police distributed photos of Smith, the car and Maddie, and asked anyone with information to call the Oakley or Walnut Creek police departments.

The Walnut Creek Police Department shared the posts on its social media accounts, too.

Tuesday evening, the Oakley Police Department announced Maddie was found on Laurel Road near state Highway 4 "by a sharp-eyed resident who saw her story on our social media outreach."

Found 25 miles away from her home in Walnut Creek, Maddie was not injured and was is in good spirits, Oakley police said as officers worked to reunite her with her "eagerly awaiting owner."