Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – Freddie Lee Edwards Jr., 42, was arrested yesterday on a warrant for extortion and grand theft after allegedly stealing a dog and telling the dog’s owner he would report her for neglect if she didn’t pay him $150.
A Gainesville Police Department officer reported that the victim was pumping gas on July 21 when she briefly stepped away from her vehicle and returned to find her dog, a Maltese-Poodle mix valued at $825, missing. About an hour later, a man, later identified as Edwards, called the phone number on the dog’s collar and said he had found the dog; however, instead of returning the dog, Edwards allegedly accused the owner of neglect and said that if she did not pay him $150, he would call law enforcement and report her for animal neglect…