SA man steals Chihuahua after attacking dog owner during walk: SAPD

SAN ANTONIO – A 47-year-old man is accused of stealing another man's dog after repeatedly punching him in the face in a Northeast Side neighborhood.

Around 1:38 p.m. Wednesday, officers with the San Antonio Police Department went to the intersection of North Vandiver Road and Country Lane where they met with the dog owner.

The owner told police he was walking his dog when a man, later identified as Darren Mitchell, approached him and started asking him about his dog.

When he started to walk away, the man said Mitchell went up to him and violently attacked him, pulling the dog leash from his hands during the assault.

Mitchell ran with the dog, a Chihuahua, until throwing it over a fence in the backyard of a home in the 400 block of Country Lane, according to police.

SAPD Officer Ben Drew found Mitchell, who matched the description the dog owner gave of his assailant, about two blocks away and took him into custody, police said.

Police said the Chihuahua was unharmed and safely returned to its owner, whose injuries from the attack were not serious.

Mitchell is facing a robbery charge, which is a second-degree felony. His bail has been set at $10,000.

According to online records, Mitchell was convicted in 1997 for aggravated assault causing serious bodily injury and was sentenced to six years in prison.

Online records also show Mitchell has previous arrests on suspicion of burglary, criminal trespassing and possession of a controlled substance.