Jennifer McBride, Harold White and 3 more arrested for stealing Lady Gaga's dogs and shooting her dog walker
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA: According to Los Angeles Police Department, five people have been arrested and charged in connection with the kidnapping of Lady Gaga's dogs and shooting her dog walker. Jennifer McBride, 50, Harold White, 40, James Jackson, 18, Jaylin White, 19, and 27-year-old Lafayette Whaley were namely the five individuals nabbed, who are now facing charges of attempted murder and robbery.
The singer's French bulldogs Koji and Gustav were stolen when the dog walker Ryan Fischer was out walking them on the night of February 24, 2021. He was shot as many as four times in the back and neck by the assailants who managed to abduct Koji and Gustav while her third dog Miss Asia reportedly ran away during the scuffle and was later rescued by the police.
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In a surveillance video footage of the incident, a white, four-door sedan can be seen pulling up alongside Fischer as he was walking the dogs in West Hollywood around 9:40 pm. “Give it up!” yelled one of two men who hopped out of the car. “No! Help me!” screamed Fischer as he attempted to fend them off. When Fischer refused to let go of the dogs, one of his attackers raised a semiautomatic handgun and fired a single shot, leaving Fischer fallen on the sidewalk.
The assailants then grabbed two of Gaga’s three dogs, Gustav and Koji and fled in the car. Fischer’s anguished screams for help can be heard as he lay bleeding on a Los Angeles street. “Oh my God, help me!” he screamed. “Help me, I’ve been shot! … I’m bleeding out of my chest!” He later informed that the dogs belonged to Lady Gaga to the person who came to help him. His condition was critical after the shooting but he has now recovered.
Who stole Lady Gaga's dogs?
Lady Gaga, who was away shooting in Rome at the time of the incident, later offered a $500,000 reward to anyone returning her dogs safely. At that time, 50-year-old Jennifer McBride brought the dogs to the police. She was initially believed to be 'uninvolved and unassociated' with the incident. However, it has now been found that McBride was in fact an accomplice to the crime. She was allegedly determined to be an 'accessory after the initial crime', along with 40-year-old Harold White, the father of Jaylin White.
A press release by the LAPD stated that McBride responded to the reward email to return the dogs. "She ultimately brought the dogs to LAPD Olympic Station. Detectives were able to establish McBride had a relationship with the father of one of the suspects, Harold White,” read an excerpt from the statement.
As per updates from the police investigation, the dogs were the prime targets of the suspects who were aware of the high value of the breed. Their motive for the crime was to dognap the canines and Gaga's dog walker Ryan Fischer was not the main target.