Arrests made in Brooksville humane society burglary
BROOKSVILLE –
Sheriff’s deputies arrested two Brooksville men in connection with last week’s burglary of the Humane Society of the Nature Coast, where three puppies and two dogs had been stolen.
Two cousins, Jose Navarro, 20, and Juan Claudio, 26, both of 16161 Fullington Road, are charged with commercial burglary after deputies say they broke into the shelter and stole three pit bull puppies and two 8-year-old dachshunds.
According to a Hernando County Sheriff’s Office report, deputies canvassed the neighborhood where two of the puppies were found and discovered one of the dachshunds at the Fullington Road residence.
A woman at the home told deputies that her husband, Claudio, had brought home four dogs on Aug. 18, but didn’t say where he or Navarro had gotten them from. She decided to keep the Dachshund, but let all the others outside.
On Saturday, both men turned themselves in and Navarro told deputies the two stole the dogs because Navarro owed a man some money.
So far, the two puppies and one dachshund have been found safe. The other dachshund was found dead off the side of the road within 50 paces of the entrance to the shelter at 7224 Mobley Road.
The tan pit bull/chow puppy has still not been found, nor has the older female pit bull that was taken in the July shelter burglary.
Anyone with information concerning the case is asked to call the Hernando County Sheriff’s office at 352-754-6830.
