A delivery driver dropped off a parcel and made off with a dog, a British court heard Tuesday.
Levi Pislea, 22, who worked for an independent delivery service, was convicted of stealing Wilma, a miniature schnauzer, as he delivered an Amazon parcel in April last year.
According to Court News UK, Richard Guttfield, Wilma’s owner, discovered the 11-month-old dog was missing from his home in Marsworth, southeast England, on April 27. After determining that Wilma vanished around the same time as his Amazon parcel arrived, he contacted the online retailer.
Pislea’s manager questioned him about the dog, but the driver denied seeing Wilma, or entering the garden where she was kept. An app, however, revealed the truth: It traced his steps around Guttfield’s house and into the garden.
Pislea’s manager reported him to the police after going to his home and finding Wilma there.
Wilma was returned home four days after the theft, and reunited with Guttfield’s second dog, Fred.
“It’s so wonderful to be sitting here with a cup of tea with my pups together,” Guttfield wrote on Facebook.
Pislea denied stealing Wilma, saying he’d found her a mile away from the house – a story he maintained at trial, Court News UK reported.
The High Wycombe Magistrates Court found otherwise, however, sentencing him to a 12-month community order and 150 hours of unpaid work. He must also pay costs of £705 ($914).
Andrew Morgan, district crown prosecutor for the Crown Prosecution Service, said: “Pislea lied when he said he hadn’t been near the garden where the dog was – a lie that was proven by the tracker data of his steps. And it is clear that the garden was secure, meaning the dog could not have got out on its own.”
He added: “He denied any knowledge of the dog when he was directly asked about it, and made no effort to reunite it with its owner over the four days that it was in his possession, all of which indicated his intention to keep it.”