



A dog who was kidnapped by a 27-year-old man with a police record decided to take matters into his own hands--or rather, teeth.



After a friend of Joseph Jando's found a stray dog, he left it in Jando's care and went to work, according to Morton Grove Police Commander Paul Yaras. The friend had called a phone number on the dog's collar tag in an attempt to reach the owners, but had not heard back yet.



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Jando, of Morton Grove, Ill., was left in charge of watching the dog, a lab mix, until its owners called, but he decided to extort the owners for money if they wanted their dog back, police said. It was around this time that the dog bit Jando, and he required stitches.



Jando, who was already on parole for other run-ins with police, threatened the owners with the death of their dog unless they paid him $1,200, Yaras said. A Morton Grove Police Department detective posed as the husband of the dog owner and met Jando in a parking lot. When Jando demanded the $1,200, the detective arrested him on a Class 3 felony charge of intimidation.



Because Jando violated the terms of his parole, Yaras said, he was given a no bond warrant, and police took him to Cook County jail.



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An arrest is merely an accusation, not evidence of a conviction.