Bella, the yellow lab reported stolen from the Derby Home Depot parking lot last month was never stolen, the dog’s owner told the Valley Indy Wednesday.
“My wife had given her away, unbeknownst to me,” William Novotny said.
Now Derby police are investigating whether criminal charges will be filed. Those charges could include reporting a false incident and interfering with an investigation.
Background
The Novotny family of Stratford said Bella, their 7-year-old yellow lab, was stolen from the family’s car while parked at the Home Depot on Main Street March 11.
The family posted information about the alleged theft on “See, Click, Fix“ and the Valley Indy first reported the allegations March 13.
Novotny told the Valley Indy at the time that his wife had gone into Home Depot for about 10 minutes to make a purchase. When she returned, the dog was gone, but the animal’s chain collar had been neatly left behind.
The owners worked tirelessly on social media to locate the dog. They created a Facebook page called “Bring Bella Home,” where Bella’s story was shared thousands of times.
The family placed “missing” fliers throughout the area and offered a reward for information leading to the dog’s return.
On March 28, the family reported that Bella had been safely returned. The dog was allegedly found wandering the Interstate 84 area in the Hartford area by a family who wished to remain anonymous, Novotny told the Valley Indy last month.
That wasn’t true.
A Simsbury family claimed they got Bella off Craigslist.
Novotny said his family had recently moved to a condo from a single-family home. His wife has some health problems and felt the family could no longer properly care for Bella.
Novotny said his wife knew he would oppose giving the animal away — so she secretly placed an ad on Craigslist and offered the dog for free.
She then concocted the Home Depot story as a cover, he said.
Once he found out, he contacted the family who had Bella and said he gave them $750 for the dog’s return.
“Frankly, this has been a nightmare for me,” he said.
Derby police wouldn’t go into the details of the case Tuesday morning, but confirmed an investigation is underway.
“The Derby Police Department is presently investigating the veracity of this complaint,” Lt. Justin Stanko said. “An arrest warrant is expected.”
Novotny said the family talked to police Tuesday and are fully cooperating. He said the case was closed, as far as he knew.
Bella, meanwhile, is still with the family and doing fine, Novotny said.
keep the dog……get rid of the wife!
The family should reimburse the department for the expense of the investigation.
She should be ashamed of herself for doing this.
I knew it all along that b*#ch !!!!!!
what a low life he needs to press charges on the wife she was wrong all the way
My heart goes out to Bill and his daughter and to Bella, I’m glad you are back with your Dad. ♥
Get rid of the wife, if she lied to you about this, what else has she lied about????? Anyone who has a problem with dogs, isn’t worth the time of day…. God forbid if you have children, she might sell them also!!! That woman is nno good.
I’m just thankful Bella is safe and is with Mr. Novotny. My heart goes out to him as it had to be very hard to find out what really had happened to Bella. May him and Bella find some peace and thank you Mr. Novotny for not giving up on getting her back where she belonged..with you.
KEEP THE DOG…. LET THE WIFE WANDER ON I84 FOR A WHILE………..
Wow. How heartless is that? The poor dog must have been wondering where her family was. I’ll never understand people who consider dogs property. They are part of our family, and I could no more consider giving away my dog than I could give away a child. People just suck sometimes….
ONCE AGAIN………..THIS IS WHY I LOVE ANIMALS AND HATE PEOPLE!!! STUPID BITCH WE SHOULD GIVE YOU AWAY!!
I hope the people that had Bella will take their reward and adopt a shelter dog to properly adopt a dog in real need !
I saw this Ad on Craigslist when Bella was reported missing and flagged it on the Bella website. The dog looked just like her and I wrote the person posting it and admonished them for posting such a lovely dog for free. Never heard back.. Now we know why. I think its time for a divorce and given all the anguished nights my 12 year old son and I spent worrying about this poor dog in the snow and the cold, I will represent Bill in his divorce at a significantly reduced rate. I think he needs to dump this woman. No excuse for this outrageous behavior.
I am DISGUSTED to read this!! The 100’s of ppl who worried or Bella!! Shame on that lady!!!
Wow if my husband did something like this i am pretty sure that would be the end of my marriage. I love my dog as much as i love my family and would be heartbroken.
I don’t know how he could trust his wife after something like this.