A 61-year-old woman and her dog were reunited after getting separated late last month during a downtown Los Angeles hit-and-run crash that left the owner injured.
On Feb. 28, Sandra Martin was walking with her dog, a brown long-hair Chihuahua-terrier mix named Little Man, shortly before 3 a.m., when she was struck by a vehicle.
The driver allegedly struck Martin with his car, got out to remove her from under his vehicle, then fled the scene, telling her “I sure am” when she asked if he was leaving.
Martin, who was taken to a hospital with severe injuries, had asked for the public’s help finding her dog of three years. She has since been released from the hospital and is now recovering at home.
With the community’s help, detectives were directed to an L.A. resident, who published photos of Little Man on a social media platform asking if anybody was missing a dog, the Los Angeles Police Department said in a news release Tuesday.
Martin later identified the dog as her Little Man.
Detectives with the LAPD said they have reached out to the person who turned over the dog Friday.
A post on Nextdoor last week showed what appeared to be Little Man — or a dog that looked like him — but the person who found the pup and service dog had allegedly refused to return him. The man had told detectives he was worried the dog’s owner was neglectful.
“My dog is my heart, he is my heart,” Martin said at the time. “And that person that didn’t want to give him back because I’m a bad mother, well watch how Little Man gets when he sees me. … I want my dog back, and I know he wants me.”
The LAPD released new footage of the area near the hit-and-run as the driver still hasn’t been found.
The driver was described by police as being a Black man about 25 to 30 years old with a thin build and who weighs between 170 and 190 pounds.
The suspect vehicle was a dark-colored four-door Hyundai Genesis.