Barking dog alerts resident to burglar breaking into neighbor's home

UNION, Ky. - UNION, Ky. - A burglary suspect is under arrest thanks to an alert resident and her barking dog.

Dispatchers received a call from Elizabeth Cripe of Union around 3 a.m. after she woke up to her dog barking and witnessed a man entering her neighbor's garage on Cavala Court.

"If the dog wasn't barking, she wouldn't have thought anything was up cause he wouldn't bark for nothing. He wasn't just barking, he was growling and barking so there was something up because he wouldn't have been doing that if there wasn't," said Kirsten Cripe, Elizabeth's daughter.

Cripe Watched the suspect later identified as David Smith of Covington leave the neighbor's house and get into a white car.

Boone County Sheriff deputies arrived in time to arrest him.

"If we didn't have the dog, he probably would have gotten away with it," said Cripe.

Deputies recovered twelve stolen purses from inside Smith's car according to Tom Scheben, spokesperson for the Boone County Sheriff's Department.

"His method of operation is to find unlocked cars in driveways and see if there is a garage door opener. He'd open up the garage door, simply go in and go through the door into the house and that's where he would steal valuables, mostly purses," said Scheben.

Detectives are investigating similar burglaries in Hebron and they are asking anyone who might have experienced a similar burglary to call 859-334-2175