Five people have been arrested and charged in connection with the February shooting and robbery of Lady Gaga’s dog walker, according to the Los Angeles Police Department.
Three of the suspects were charged Thursday with attempted murder, the LAPD said in a news release. Two others, including the woman who claimed she found the dogs, are charged as accessories after the fact.
Police busted the suspects after serving a series of search warrants on Tuesday. James Jackson, 18; Jaylin White, 19; and Lafayette Whaley, 27, are charged with one count each of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and second-degree robbery, the L.A. County District Attorney’s Office said in a statement.
Police described the three men as “documented gang members.”
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Jennifer McBride, who police said claimed she found the dogs and responded to an email to return the pets for a reward, was charged with accessory after the fact and receiving stolen property.
McBride, 50, took the dogs to the LAPD’s Olympic Division after Lady Gaga went public with an offer for a $500,000 reward in exchange for the safe return of her pets.
McBride allegedly had a relationship with Harold White, the 40-year-old father of one of the suspects. White, who police described as a documented gang member, is charged with one count of being an accessory after the fact and possession of a firearm.
Ryan Fischer, one of Lady Gaga’s friends, was walking the singer’s three French bulldogs in the area of Sierra Bonita Avenue and Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, on the night of Feb. 24, when he was approached by two men.
The suspects demanded Fischer turn over the prized pets at gunpoint. There was a struggle and the dogwalker was shot by one of the suspects. The thieves grabbed two of the dogs and fled in a white Nissan Altima four door. A third pup was recovered at the scene. Fischer was seriously injured, but survived the ordeal.
The shooting was recorded by a surveillance camera in the neighborhood.
“Detectives do not believe the suspects were targeting the victim because of the dogs’ owner. However, evidence suggests the suspects knew the great value of the breed of dogs and was the motivation for the robbery,” the LAPD said in Thursday’s news release.
Once the dogs were turned in, detectives connected the woman claiming to be a good Samaritan to the father of one of the attempted murder suspects, police said.
