Police in Minnesota have arrested a man who allegedly stole a three-legged dog from a woman he met on a dating app.
Akhil Miryala has been charged with burglary and stalking in connection to the incident, Us Weekly confirmed with police.
Miryala of Minneapolis will appear before a judge on Thursday, March 19, at which time he’ll likely be asked to enter pleas to the felonies he faces.
Miryala, 27, allegedly matched with a woman in February while using an unspecified dating app and they two even met for two dates.
However, two dates were enough for the woman to realize Miryala was not for her, and she told him a relationship was not in the cards.
Miryala allegedly couldn’t take “No” for an answer and started contacting the woman on social media. He also inundated her phone with calls and text messages.
Then, on March 9, Bloomington Police received a call from a distressed woman claiming someone broke into her home and stole her pooch — a three-legged coon hound-labrador mix named Oriana.
She told cops that the footage from her doorbell camera showed Miryala at her home a few times that day alone.
At around 7 p.m., he was captured again by the camera on the front steps of the home, trying to lure the pup away with treats and human food.
Miryala allegedly called the victim as cops were arriving at the woman’s residence and after initially denying he took the dog, he eventually admitted that he had Oriana.
Meanwhile, police at the scene listened in on Miryala’s ongoing chat with the victim. They allegedly heard him claim he looked the woman’s address up online and he had been stopping by her home regularly — and even watched from afar as she was in her backyard with another man.
After he was arrested, Miryala allegedly copped to calling or texting the victim 30 to 40 times during the previous two weeks. He also said that he created a fake number to call her from.
He allegedly told cops that he took the dog “as part of a plan to later return the dog in hopes of getting on [the victim’s] good side again,” according to court filings.
Attempts to reach Miryala’s attorney for comment were unsuccessful on Tuesday, March 17.
Us also called numbers associated with Miryala but was unable to reach him for an interview.
Oriana, according to police, is back home where she belongs and was unharmed during the dognapping.
