Family Dog Reunited Hours After Car Stolen In Parking Lot: Police

MILTON, GA — Police officers often reunite family members after a person goes missing, getting a hug or handshake thanking them. But two Milton police officers received a "thanks" in the form of licks and excited jumps after they found and reunited Rebel the dog with his family.

On Thursday night, Rebel was in his owner's car when it was stolen from the parking lot of the Publix in Birmingham Crossroads.

Milton police, along with other local and state law enforcement agencies, were able to recover both the car and dog hours later in central Georgia. Rebel was reunited with his family early Friday morning.

A warrant has been issued for the arrest of James Breedlove, 33, who police say ran from the car on foot.

“While fortunately such brazen crimes as this do not occur very frequently in Milton, I am glad to let our citizens know that we have staff that are well-trained and well-equipped to handle such situations very quickly and effectively," Milton Police Chief Rich Austin said in a Facebook post. "We are also fortunate to have very strong relationships with our partner law enforcement agencies and citizens, which helped immensely in the situation. I would like to personally thank all those who assisted and continue to assist in this investigation. We are so happy that Rebel was unharmed. What a brave boy!”

Rebel's owner, Diana Wetzel Ward, commented on the Facebook post saying she has no words to express her family's gratitude to the Milton Police Department for its swift actions across the department, from dispatchers, officers and neighboring law enforcement all working together in a time-critical situation.

"Huge 'thank you' to Officer Joshua Harrell who arrived at Publix around 7:30 p.m. and worked diligently with his colleagues until 3:30 a.m., when he and Officer Kelsey Graham (who made the 85-mile trip to retrieve Rebel) delivered our sweet boy home safely," Ward wrote. "After feeling safe and secure at home, Rebel promptly 'thanked' OFC Harrell and OFC Graham by jumping all over them. Grateful for our MPD, and our community at large."

Police said Breedlove "doesn’t have any known ties to Milton and authorities have no reason to believe he’s in the city."

Anyone with information on this case is asked to contact Milton police Detective Khalil Bouziane at khalil.bouziane@cityofmiltonga.us.