WAFB Channel 9, Baton Rouge, LA |Chihuahua helps catch suspected bank robbers

Chihuahua helps catch suspected bank robbers

By Keitha Nelson - bio | email

BATON ROUGE, LA (WAFB) - A local Chihuahua named "Chico" is getting some of the credit for helping to nab a couple of robbery suspects. Two Baton Rouge men were arrested for robbing the Capital One Bank on Government Street last Wednesday. They had gotten away, until a day later when Chico stepped in.

"Chico" has been in Peter Budo's life for seven years. The pair seems to have pretty good understanding. "'Chico' is my protector," Budo says. He says the pint-sized protector packs a punch, or bite. "Chico" recently showed off his crime-fighting skills when he sensed something odd in Budo's backyard Thursday afternoon.

"When I came back out, after letting him out, he was running in circles and barking up the fence right here." So, Budo took a peek over his fence. "I saw the shoes and I saw the pants laying down. That's all I could see. It threw me for a loop. I jumped back because I thought somebody was gonna get up." Little did he know, the owner of those pants was long gone.

Wednesday morning, there was a bank robbery at Capital One on Government Street, just a few feet away from "Chico's" backyard. The suspect was caught on surveillance video handing over a demand letter to the teller. He later took off toward St. Tammany Street with the cash he nabbed. "There's a perfect escape route for the criminal to get through. You can cut right through there," Budo says.

Police believe that's what 24-year-old Aaron Starks did. He and his alleged partner in crime, 19-year-old Marlon Jackson, were eventually captured. Police say it wasn't hard catching the duo because one of them left their driver's license in the pair of pants that Budo found. "The neighbors who live over there by the bank, we would like to commend them for helping us out because without them, we would not have made the arrests as quickly as we did," says L'Jean McKneely with Baton Rouge police. "I like to say that it's 'Chico' who deserves the credit," Budo says.