ENGLEWOOD, Colo. (KDVR) — The Wilson family had just moved to Colorado from Florida last month when they said their 5-month-old Pitbull puppy was stolen out of their backyard.

Wilson said that on Sept. 4, their neighbor’s ring doorbell camera caught a man in a white Ford pickup truck with a yellow bottom pull up in front of their home and take the dog.

“You see him opening the gate, getting the dog, putting him in his car and speeding off leaving the gate wide open,” said Samarie Wilson, the owner of the puppy, Kano.

Wilson said she posted pictures of Kano all over social media, along with a picture of the truck, her cell phone number and notice that there would be a reward for finding him.

‘That’s the guy who took your dog. We have it on film.’

Less than 24 hours later, a man knocked at their front door and said he found the dog. Wilson said she and her husband went out to the man’s truck and confirmed it was Kano.

She said the man, who stated his name was Ronnie, told them he bought Kano from a stranger for $300, but when he went home, his wife asked for proof of papers and told him to return the dog. The man even gave the Wilsons a business card offering to come back and do lawn work

Wilson said they were going to give the man $360, but he did not have any money transfer apps, so she went to the bank for cash. She said during all that, while the man was still at their home, the neighbors with the original ring doorbell video came over.

“Our neighbors came across the street with their iPad and said, ‘We really don’t want to get in your business, but that’s the guy who took your dog. We have it on film. It’s the same exact truck, it’s the same tags,’” Wilson said.

She said after watching the video, they realized it was the truck Ronnie was in. She said they confronted him because they don’t think he realized the original theft was caught on camera.

“He started looking around saying, ‘That’s not me. I’m no thief. That’s probably my truck on your camera because there was a fight.’ Or some excuse. It made no sense,” Wilson said.

Accused thief tells his side of the story

She said they thanked him for returning Kano but they would not be giving him the reward.

NewsNation affiliate KDVR called the number on the business card the accused dog thief Ronnie gave to the Wilsons. Ronnie told us that he was in the neighborhood to go and give a bid on a job and stopped around the corner from where the Wilsons live at a home where a man sells tools.

Ronnie then said two men were fighting when the older man, named Mark, asked him for a ride and then asked him if he wanted to buy a dog.

Ronnie said he saw the dog.

“I knew it was a pretty dog. I was overexcited,” Ronnie said.

He said the man called Mark told Ronnie that he lived there and that the pitbull was his. He said he paid the man $300, then grabbed the dog and put him in his truck. Ronnie said there was another man in the video camera that you couldn’t see in the passenger seat. We asked for Mark’s information, and Ronnie said he didn’t know who the guy was.

Ronnie said the next day he returned to the home to bring the dog back.

“I even told these people this man had me out here stealing their dog,” Ronnie said.

Police investigating

The Wilsons said they don’t believe Ronnie’s story because they said the home video from the neighbors tells a different tale, and they believe he came back once he knew a reward was being offered.

“He didn’t know he was on film. That’s why he did this whole charades game. It was just a scam,” Wilson said.

Wilson told KDVR they are planning on pressing charges. The Englewood Police Department is investigating this case.