Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
Little Girl Gets Best Christmas Gift Ever When Good Samaritan Rescues Her Kidnapped Dog
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 26, 2012
Modified Dec 26, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Rebecca Fishbein
Published Dec 26, 2012
Modified Dec 26, 2012
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Today's heartwarming holiday tale is brought to you by a little girl and her dog: a good Samaritan reunited a seven-year-old with her Ruby Cavalier King Charles Spaniel on Christmas Eve, after the dog was stolen from a food store in Washington Heights.
On Monday morning at about 10 a.m., Mia Bendrat was food shopping at La Rosa Fine Foods on Broadway and 176th St with her mother, Angie Estrada, and her mother's boyfriend. They left Mia's dog, Marley, tied outside, but when they finished shopping less than ten minutes later, Marley was gone. "Our world changed at 10 o'clock," Estrada told DNAinfo. "I was horrified, but I'm trying to hold it together for Mia."
Luckily for Mia, who got Marley for Christmas two years ago and describes him as her "best friend," Tena Cohen, a Spanish teacher at Brooklyn Tech High School in Fort Greene, was walking through Union Square later that day when she spotted a man trying to sell a dog on the street. And something about the situation seemed fishy: "It looked nervous and sad, and was kind of an older dog," Cohen told the Post. "I figured it was stolen." Cohen bought the dog for $220 and brought him to her vet.
She also contacted a rescue group that recalled an earlier Post story about the missing dog, and they were able to reunite Marley with an ecstatic Mia. "This was the best present ever," Estrada told CBS. Police have arrested Brad Bacon, 29, for the theft, and say a surveillance video taken outside the Washington Heights grocery store shows Bacon untying Marley and walking off with him.
Tagged
christmas miracle
dognapping
manhattan
union square
Washington Heights
Rebecca Fishbein
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
NYPD searching for suspect after fatal stabbing in Queens
Officers responding to a call at the intersection of Jamaica Avenue and 173rd Street around 1 a.m. found 29-year-old Sulimon Ferrier, who had multiple stab wounds to his chest, police said.
By
Ben Feuerherd
Published Oct 3, 2026 at 4:38 p.m. ET
NYPD: 2 suspects in off-duty officer stabbing tried to rob victim
It’s unclear if the attackers knew the victim was NYPD.
By
Jill Webb
News
NYPD: 2 suspects in off-duty officer stabbing tried to rob victim
It’s unclear if the attackers knew the victim was NYPD.
By
Jill Webb
Astoria-born Chip City announces sudden closure days after former CEO sues
By
Catalina Gonella
US judge tosses Trump lawsuit targeting pro-Palestinian protesters in NJ
By
Willow Higgins
A big, bright Saturn will be the highlight of NYC's fall stargazing season
By
Rosemary Misdary
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .