WHEAT RIDGE, Colo. – Police in Wheat Ridge are looking for two robbery suspects accused of shooting a service dog as she attempted to defend her owner inside a hotel room last Friday.
The 10-year-old dog, named Nalla, survived but one of her legs had to be amputated, police say.
The robbery occurred November 10 at the American Motel near Interstate 70 and Kipling Street in Wheat Ridge.
Around 11:30 p.m., police say a man and a woman broke into the victims' room where Deanna Rodrock and her niece were fast asleep.
The male suspect shot Nalla when the dog began defending her owner against the attack.
“The male came right up to me. He held the gun to my face, told me, 'I want your money and your pills, whatever you have!’” Rodrock said.
When she told him she didn't have cash, he pistol-whipped her. At the same time, Rodrock said the female assailant forced her niece to the floor and held a gun to her head.
That’s when Nalla, a pit bull mix, leaped into action.
“She got him pretty good in the arm and the leg, and he shot her,” Rodrock said.
Still, Nalla and Stella, the family’s other dog, went after the suspects as they fled with her personal belongings down the hallway.
Surveillance video shows the two dogs chase the suspects, Nalla limping from the gunshot wound. On Friday, Wheat Ridge Police released a clip from the video:
Shortly after the suspects leave the hotel, Wheat Ridge Police arrive on scene, where officers found the injured Nalla in the hotel’s parking lot.
She was taken to area vet for treatment and is recovering well, police say.
Rodrock says she'd never seen the suspects before. She doesn't know whether they saw her carry a prescription bag into her room or if the robbery was completely random.
Wheat Ridge Police are asking for the public's help in identifying the two suspects. Contact them at 303-237-2220 if you have information in this case.
