It's a real-life Cruella de Vil case in a Phoenix suburb.
Since Dec. 24, a woman has been accused of attempting to steal expensive French bulldog puppies from three different Valley breeders.
She was even successful in one incident last week.
"I believe in karma, so I know she'll get hers -- eventually,” Aaron Lewis, a Peoria resident, said.
Lewis and his wife were selling three French Bulldog puppies for $3,500 each, when a woman visited his home last Tuesday and said she wanted to buy one.
The woman was quick to declare that she wanted to buy the puppy and told Lewis she needed to get money from her car.
The two walked outside Lewis' home. But then the woman placed the puppy on the passenger seat, abruptly locked the car doors and sped away.
Lewis held on to the car door handle and was dragged on the street, scraping his leg, hip and arm and suffering second-degree burns.
“I’m not so much angry but feeling emotional for the dog,” Lewis said. “What kind of person does something like that?”
Lewis communicated with other local French Bulldog breeders and learned that a woman matching the same description visited two other Valley breeders during the previous couple of weeks.
She was described by the other breeders as acting suspicious and even “scaring” one of them with her demeanor.
"To know there are people out there who would want to do something like that, whether it be for cash or even if it’s just for her to have a dog, it's like crazy,” Lewis said.
The Peoria Police Department is working to determine if there is surveillance video available of the suspect’s license plate from her visit at a parking lot of Desert Ridge Mall, where she met one of the breeders.
The woman is described as African- American, with caramel-colored skin, and in her early- to mid-20s. She is about 5-foot-6 in height and was driving a newer white Ford Fusion with an Arizona license plate.
Police are asking the public to contact them if they have more specific information about the woman.
According to the American Kennel Club, French Bulldogs are one of the most commonly stolen breeds because of their high value.
Lewis said he hopes his story reminds other dog breeders to be cautious when showing their puppies to potential buyers.