ROCKINGHAM — A pair of alleged dognappers from a Moore County case that made its rounds around the region on social media over the weekend also have Richmond County charges.
On Jan. 3, Teresa Hiatt of Pinehurst posted on Facebook that her Shih Tzu, Kodiak, was stolen from her car at Kickback Jack’s in Southern Pines, and that he needed medicine.
Hiatt’s original post was shared more than 500 times and some Richmond County residents were invested in helping reunite Kodiak with his owners.
The suspects, 21-year-old Novia Zhane Ratliff, who has addresses in Hamlet and Rockingham, and Lamondrick Keon, Blue who has addresses listed in Wagram and Laurinburg, were reportedly in a wreck in Scotland County and Kodiak escaped.
A crew was called in to assist in finding Kodiak and the search dog tracked Kodiak for about a mile, according to a post from Hiatt.
On Monday, Hiatt posted that a man had called her and said, “I think I found your dog.” Kodiak was found about 3-4 miles from the crash site on a rural road near Laurinburg, Hiatt said. She thanked all those who followed the case on social media.
Ratliff and Blue were arrested Jan. 6 and charged with a felony count of larceny of a dog by the Southern Pines Police Department.
Blue was wanted by the Hamlet Police Department in an October domestic violence case. Click here to read that story.
Investigators with the Hamlet Police Department say that prior to allegedly stealing the dog on Saturday, Ratliff had filed a report, stating that Blue had kidnapped her. However, after tracking their movements on Saturday, officers charged Ratliff with making a false report at a police station.
Court records show Ratliff was given a $5,000 secured bond for each the dog larceny charge and false report charge. She appears to have been released.
Blue, who was reportedly in Scotland County when he turned himself in, is being held in the Richmond County Jail without bond on the dog larceny charge and charges from October: first-degree kidnapping; assault by strangulation; assault by pointing a gun; misdemeanor crime of domestic violence; communicating threats; first-degree burglary; injury to personal property; injury to real property; and misdemeanor larceny.
Court records show Ratliff as the alleged victim in the case.
Blue is also being held on: a $1,000 secured bond on a charge of communicating threats. He is also being held on a $300,000 secured bond on the following charges in superior court, originally filed in April 2024: breaking and entering to terrorize or injure; misdemeanor crime of domestic violence; interfering with emergency communication; and resisting a public officer.
Records with the N.C. Department of Adult Correction show Blue was convicted in Scotland County of second-degree trespassing and misdemeanor breaking and entering in 2022 and given a suspended sentence.
Ratliff has no prior convictions in the state.
All defendants facing criminal charges are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
