Dorchester man's dog thought there was something wrong - and there was

A Savin Hill man reports his dog pinned a housebreak suspect on the hood of a downstairs neighbor's car this morning - although he didn't know the kid had ransacked the neighbor's place until after he managed to run away and the police arrived and searched the place, with guns drawn.

In e-mail, Jason Vitale reports what happend after he and his dog, Roxie - a 35-lb. huskie/German shepherd mix - started out for a walk from their Aukland Street three decker around 7:50 a.m. Almost immediately, he writes, Roxie sensed something wrong:

Near the back of the house she began barking and moved much faster and ran into the driveway. This is an uncommon trait so I quickly ran after her. I found a Honda CRV with broken taillight and driver window partially cracked parked, car off, in the driveway. Roxie had pinned a ~14 year old boy on the hood of the Honda.

I stood in front of the hood and asked the kid what he was doing there. He responded with "Visiting my grandma on the second floor". I said "what is her name". He responded with something like 'Angela'. I asked if he was sure this was her house in which he said "yes" (Second floor owner is not named Angela).

I then pulled out my phone, took a picture, and dialed 911. Before I spoke, the kid said "Are we cool?" I then had the 911 operator on the phone and said something like "I have a young male trespassing on my property." He immediately jumped off the side of the car and ran down the right side of the house with Roxie in hot pursuit. I ran up the driveway and watched him run south on Auckland and turn right on Bay Street. I did not pursue and was yelling at him and calling for Roxie to return. I gave a report to the 911 operator and got off the phone.

The neighbor at 83 Auckland came out and the police arrived within minutes. Along with the first officers on scene, we went in back and opened the Unit 1 back door which was closed without issue. Clearly visible was the house in disarray. I yelled for the unit owner and heard nothing. Then the officers proceeded to clear Unit 1 with firearms drawn. At this time other officers and detectives began to arrive. One of the neighbors reported 2 young people in this same car parked in front of 81 Auckland at approximately 6 am. Another neighbor reported 2 suspicious people walking down Auckland and turning into my driveway at 7 am. She called the police promptly but we are unsure if they responded. The detectives appeared to be photographing Unit 1 and fingerprinting for the next while. Upon the Unit 2 owners' arrival home we walked in the front door with police and detectives still on scene. I noticed 2 hats sitting in the hallway in front and mail on the ground which had previously been stood up on the Unit 1 door. These hats were not there when I walked out in the morning. This indicated to me, another perpetrator had departed quickly from the front of the house.

A tow truck came and the driver drove the Honda out from the back, and then towed it to the police lot. It was noted that the Unit 1 master bath window was unlocked and had not been broken but the screen was raised up and opened without issue.

The police reported that the car in the driveway was registered to the first floor unit. Both the Unit 2 owner and I confirmed we had not seen the car in approximately 2-3 weeks nor in the driveway or on the street. The unit 1 owner confirmed via phone that he had left the car in his garage with the keys on his counter inside Unit 1 approximately 3 weeks prior and had not been home since.