CHESAPEAKE, Va. (WAVY) — Police have arrested a woman they say claimed to be the owner of a lost dog and then attempted to sell the dog on Craigslist.

Police say 22-year-old Jessica Brittany Colleran responded to a “found dog” ad on Craiglist and claimed to be the dog’s owner. After Colleran picked up the dog, police say, she took the animal to a location in Portsmouth and posted the dog for sale on Craigslist.

The dog’s name is Nikita, and the actual owner, Joshua King, said it started when she escaped from the fence at his home Saturday morning.

Photos: Lost dog found for sale online

“It was pretty horrible, because I was so stressed out, but I didn’t know what to do,” he said.

He couldn’t find her, and later that night King said he saw an ad on Craiglist for a dog for sale. He wasn’t sure if it was Nikita, but it looked like her.

“I never had thought of somebody doing this before, so I was kind of doubting myself that it was my dog,” King said.

King said his friend discovered a “found dog” ad on Craigslist that same night and contacted the man who posted it, telling him he believed he knew the owner. The man told King’s friend that someone else had already claimed the dog, King said.

“He was the one who actually found the original post of the found dog and contacted the gentleman who saved my dog from getting run over on the road … He got all the information from the lady who was claiming it was her dog,” King said.

King said the number for the woman who allegedly claimed the dog matched the number for the person posting about the dog for sale. The next day, King said he met with the woman selling the dog, but had called the police to be with him in advance. Right away, King said he knew it was his dog.

“We knew right when she drove up. When we saw her driving up, [Nikita] was in the window, and then she tried to get out of the car the whole time … She kept calling her Angel and everything, and the only thing I could think of was the whole time, I was like no, it’s my dog, it’s Nikita, so what I said to her, I was like, ‘No, her name’s actually Nikita,’ and she just looked bewildered that I knew her actual name,” King said.

King said police talked to the woman while he took back his dog.

“I don’t know, I’m bewildered that somebody would actually think of doing something like this,” he said.

King said he was grateful for the person who originally posted about his dog on Craigslist. “I really appreciate him finding my dog and saving her from getting run over and all of that,” King said.

Chesapeake police confirmed that on Nov. 23 officers retrieved the dog and returned it to its legal owner, with the assistance of the Portsmouth Police Department.

Colleran has been charged with obtaining property under false pretenses. She is currently being held in the Chesapeake Correctional Center and declined to talk to WAVY News.

According to court documents, Colleran told an officer that she tried to sell the dog to get money for her legal defense on a pending charge. Colleran has a pending charge of unlawful wounding in Portsmouth, according to the paperwork.

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