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A Carmel man was sentenced to a year in a work-release program after he pleaded guilty to the theft of a popular skateboarding English bulldog named Gus.
Carmel Police said on April 16 that Reid Albrecht, 22, Carmel, was already serving a six-month sentence on drug charges when he was arrested on two theft charges. Albrecht had one of the theft charges dismissed as part of the plea deal. The sentencing was Wednesday in Hamilton Superior Court 4.
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Gus disappeared from his owners’ front yard in the Foster Estates neighborhood on Oct. 4, 2017, and has never been found.
The bulldog’s owner, Christine Kiger, said the plea deal calls for Albrecht to meet with her and a Carmel police detective to give details on what happened to Gus.
“We just want to know whole story from start to finish,” Kiger said by phone Thursday.
In regard to Albrecht’s sentence, Kiger said, “There’s no amount of time adequate for taking a family pet.”
Albrecht was told to enter Hamilton County Community Corrections shortly after his court hearing, records show.
“We’re glad to be moving on and glad he is going to be out of our neighborhood for a while, and that we can get closure through his final cleanup statement to the Carmel detective.”
In October 2017, several witnesses told police they remembered seeing Albrecht with a bulldog matching Gus’ description. Police say Albrecht told people he adopted the bulldog, but neither the Indianapolis nor the Hamilton County Humane Society had a record of him adopting an animal.