Armed robbers tie up couple in Golden Valley home, steal 8 pricy puppies, other valuables, police say

Masked armed robbers hit a home in Golden Valley, tying up and gagging the residents before making off with jewels, a sports car, eight high-priced purebred puppies and other valuables, officials said.

Police said they believe the crooks had inside help in pulling off the job late Saturday at the home in the 6300 block of Medicine Lake Road.

"This was an isolated incident, and we know based upon our initial investigation and talking with the victims these suspects had help from a family member," Police Chief Virgil Green said in a statement. "They knew exactly what they were looking for when they entered the home."

Green elaborated in an interview Wednesday that the relative is a nephew who immediately drew suspicion "when he showed up when he did."

Once one of the residents opened the door, "that's when the other three were let in the home," the chief added.

While no arrests have been made as of Wednesday afternoon, Green continued, "we are confident the information we have about the suspects will lead to the arrest of those involved."

The occupants of the home reported to police that at least three suspects wearing ski masks and carrying guns forced them into the kitchen and bound their hands, legs and mouths with duct tape.

Police say the suspects stole jewelry, gaming systems, designer purses and eight American bully merle puppies — three males and five females — valued at $5,000 to $10,000 each. The suspects also stole a 2019 Dodge Challenger, which was recovered Tuesday in Minneapolis, the chief said.

Green said the haul added up to more than $100,000 in valuables.

"They definitely used force trying to get [the residents] to open up a safe, and if they didn't open it up, they would kill them," the chief said.

A longtime friend of one of the residents elaborated that the intruders held guns to the victims' head for 25 minutes while they gathered up the six-week-old puppies and some of the couple's other possessions.

"Imagine being held in your home against your will [and] not knowing if [you are] about to die or not," Teshown Morris wrote in an online fundraising campaign whose mission is to help the couple recover financially. "They aren't physically harmed [but] emotionally, mentally they are struggling to wrap their heads around this."

Jessica Lee, who co-owns the puppies and has been in touch with her business partner since the robbery, said the suspects hauled the dogs away in a big plastic tote.

The puppies have yet to visit a veterinarian, are not vaccinated "and they're too young to leave their mom or even leave their house," Lee said. "They are at super high risk for illness."

Their mother was left behind and is in physical distress because she is not nursing, Lee said. "She's very, very upset."

A breeder in Anoka County who knows the couple and has been in contact with them said that "one of the four is still contacting [the couple] and threatening their lives."

Joanna Kelly, who breeds merle American bully dogs, questions whether the thieves will be able to sell them.

"Anybody who does something like that doesn't know a whole lot about dogs and pedigrees," Kelly said, who runs her breeding operation from her Minneapolis home.

Kelly said it would be difficult to sell the puppies because "you need a breeding certificate if you want to sell one of these dogs. … They would have to falsify documents."

Merle American bully dogs are especially valuable because of a genetic abnormality that gives them irregular markings on their coat, Kelly said.

"They are big marshmallows in a lot of ways," she said. "They are loving, fierce protectors but not with that unpredictability reputation that pit bulls have."

Chief Green said the investigation is now being led by the Hennepin County Violent Offenders Task Force because its personnel has acquired information about the suspects.

Anyone with information regarding this investigation is asked to contact police at 763-593-8059 or at police@goldenvalleymn.gov.