Hostage rescue plays as canine drama

ALBUQUERQUE (KRQE) - The lapel camera video shows an officer jumping out of his car in the Jefferson Middle School parking lot.
He is demanding everyone get on the ground as he breaks up a shady transaction.

"I got a pep-talk from my husband, said goodbye to my girls, gave them a kiss, just in case anything happened," said Tanya Shelle. She was going a recon mission.

Shelle and APD Officer Daniel Webster needed to identify her missing dog, which they believed was in the hands of extortionists.

For days Shelle put up signs around her University Heights neighborhood to find Obie, her Yorkshire terrier. On Monday, someone called her demanding $1,000 for the dog's safe return.

"They said if I do not give them cash, that it's unlikely that I'll get Obie back," said Shelle.

"So we had a little plan," Webster said. His idea was for Shelle to tell the 'dognappers' that she had the money even though she didn't.

"They said, 'we'll meet you in five minutes at Jefferson Middle School','" said Shelle.

Webster sat in his car down the street from the parking lot listening in on the transaction.

"I was petrified," Schelle said. "I wasn't going to take my girls. I took off all my jewelry."

Shelle's cell phone was on speaker, dialed into the officer's phone, so he could hear everything. But things didn't work out as planned.

"I immediately saw Obie and just all common sense flew out the window," Schelle continues. "I started crying for Obie and calling for him."

But that was the last thing Webster heard on his phone. The call dropped. It was time to move in.

Police say a 14-year-old and his mother were behind the con. A 13-year-old friend was with them but didn't appear to know what was going on.

When asked if there could have been a safer way to get the dog back, Webster wasn't sure.

No one was hurt, and Obie is back in his family's arms. They say it was worth it.

The mother and son were not arrested. It's not clear if that's because the ransom calls were not recorded.
Officers want to continue investigating.

The mom could face charges of extortion and contributing to the delinquency of a minor. The case is now with the District Attorney's Office.