The teenager accused of burning three puppies has allegedly admitted to stealing then burning the dogs.

Ryan Turtura, 19, appeared in court for the first time Thursday after being arrested the night before. Turtura was identified after authorities released a surveillance video showing a man buying accelerants that were used to burn the dogs.

The woman who turned in Turtura was his girlfriend's mother, Rhonda Redgate.

"My girlfriend called me and said the guy on TV initially looked like Ryan, and I didn't believe her," said Redgate.

She took a closer look at the surveillance video of a man at a Walgreens store, buying an item that later turned up at the crime scene. She said she realized it was Turtura and knew what she had to do.

"Since my daughter's dating him, if there was a remote chance this might have been him, I wanted to make sure that all of that activity was stopped," Redgate (pictured, right) said.

Turtura's girlfriend said she was shocked after she learned that he'd confessed to stealing and burning the dogs.

"I can't see somebody that I've cared for do something like this because the only side of him I saw was his soft side," said Dana Siens, his girlfriend.

She said he kept the dark side of his personality well hidden.

"It didn't show in the way that he acted. He seemed happy all the time," Siens said.

Redgate has no regrets about calling the police.

"I think if you know somebody that people are looking for, you should call in. It's the right thing to do," she said. As for the crime, she said, "I think it's one of the worst things you can do."

Both the mother and her daughter say that although they are stunned by the his alleged confession, there were some things that he did, which they won't elaborate on, that take on more meaning now.