A suspect mistakenly released from a Los Angeles County jail where he was being held on suspicion of shooting Lady Gaga’s dog walker and stealing her French bulldogs has been recaptured.
James Howard Jackson, 19, was arrested nearly five months after being released from jail while awaiting trial “due to a clerical error,” the county Sheriff’s Department says.
Here’s what you need to know about the latest development in the saga.
Wait, what happened?
In February last year, Lady Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was shot by a man who stole two of the singer’s French bulldogs in Hollywood.
Detectives said they did not believe the thieves knew the dogs, Koji and Gustav, were Lady Gaga’s at the time.
It is believed the offender was motivated by the value of French bulldogs, which can be thousands of dollars each.
Is the dog walker OK?
Yes, but he has lost part of a lung as a result of his injuries.
In a social media post following the attack, Mr Fischer thanked Gaga for her support while he was fighting for life in hospital.
“You have shown so much support throughout this whole crisis to both me and my family,” he said.
“I look forward to the future and the moment when I get bombarded with kisses and licks (and maybe even an excitement pee?) from Asia, Koji, and Gustav.”
And the dogs?
They’re also safe and well.
Lady Gaga offered a $US500,000 reward ($643,000) — “no questions asked” — to be reunited with the dogs.
The dogs were returned two days later to an LAPD station by a woman who police initially said appeared to be “uninvolved and unassociated” with the crime.
Who was charged?
A month after the kidnapping, multiple people were charged with attempted murder and robbery in connection with the armed snatching of Lady Gaga’s dogs and the shooting of their walker.
Police arrested James Jackson, 19, Jaylin White, 19, and Lafayette Whaley, 27, in connection with the violence.
Police also arrested 50-year-old Jennifer McBride — the woman who returned Lady Gaga’s dogs who police initially said appeared to be “uninvolved” with the crime.
Ms McBride turned out to be in a relationship with the father of one of the suspects.
So someone was arrested, then mistakenly released, but has now been recaptured?
Yep.
Mr Jackson was mistakenly released from a Los Angeles jail in April this year, where he was being held on a charge of attempted murder.
Last month, US authorities offered a $US5,000 ($7,200) reward in return for information that led to his arrest.
At the time, the Los Angeles County District Attorney’s Office said the move aimed “to speed up the legal process” and Mr Jackson was arraigned under a new case number.
“Mr Jackson was subsequently released from custody by the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department. We are unsure as to why they did so,” the statement from the District Attorney’s Office read.
ABC/wires
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