Wicker Park woman reunited with stolen pomapoo puppy after attacked on walk

CHICAGO (WLS) -- A Wicker Park woman is reunited with her 2-month-old puppy after she was attacked and the dog was stolen while on a walk Wednesday night.

The victim, who doesn't want to be identified in fear of her attackers, said her sister found the puppy wandering in the Bronzeville neighborhood and brought it home.

The 40-year-old woman is also recovering from being slashed during the attack the required 10 stitches.

"I have slashes like somebody took a claw thing and just went," she describes.

The victim told police said she was walking with her pomapoo puppy named "Blue" in the 1700-block of North Milwaukee Avenue around 9 p.m. when a violent fight over her dog took place.

The owner said she was thrown up against a wall, had the dog ripped from her arms, and was cut in the process.

"It hurts, it hurts really bad," she said. "This is my son. You know, even though he's a puppy, this is my child."

The victim said she got Blue, like so many others adopting, to bring some joy to her family during the coronavirus pandemic.

"She went to try to pick him up, and I hurried up and snatched him up and had him in my arm like this, and she was grabbing the legs" the victim described. "Both of us pulling and I'm trying to hit her like this and the guy had knocked me up against the gate."

She said she let go of the dog after hearing Blue cry in pain.

Blue's owner tried to chase after the suspect as they ran off with the young dog. She said after they got away is when she felt the pain in her arm.

"(I) couldn't catch them. Next thing you know I felt burning in my arm and I looked down and I was like, 'Oh my God, I didn't even notice that I was cut,'" she said.

She hurried to the hospital where she was treated and released, but back home she's left reeling.

"Only thing that matters to me is my time with him and, you know, that shared bond," she said.

Detectives are investigating, but police say no one is in custody for the crime.