Five charged after Lady Gaga’s dogwalker was shot and French bulldogs stolen
Three people have been charged with attempted murder and robbery after Lady Gaga's dogwalker was shot and her French bulldogs stolen.
Ryan Fischer was walking three of Lady Gaga's dogs near Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood when a group of five men were said to have jumped out a car and grabbed two of the pets, Koji and Gustav, on February 24.
Mr Fischer was shot in the ensuing struggle before the men were reported to have fled in the car.
James Howard Jackson, 18, Jaylin Keyshawn White, 19, and Lafayette Shon Whaley, 27, have all been charged with attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and second-degree robbery.
Jackson faces extra charges of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and a felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.
White faces an extra count of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.
Two others, Harold White and Jennifer McBride, have been charged with attempted murder, and McBride faces another charge of receiving stolen property.
Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon called the attack on Mr Fischer a “brazen street crime”.
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Mr Fischer had surgery on a collapsed lung and has since left hospital. He spoke of how the third dog, Asia, "trotted over and laid next to me” after the attack.
The dogs were returned unharmed days later after Gaga offered a US$500,000 (£360,000) reward by a woman. Officers said at the time that the woman appeared to be “uninvolved and unassociated” with the theft.
Police later discovered the woman, McBride, was in a relationship with the father of one of the suspects, Los Angeles Police Department said on Thursday.