Golden retriever greets San Diego burglar with a toy, not a bite

A San Diego couple returned from a flight to find their home had been broken into, and their 4-year-old golden retriever had greeted the burglar with a toy instead of a bite. The man suspected in the break-in ate food from the refrigerator and napped inside the house as the couple watched remotely from the plane, the homeowner said.

Dante Rowley and his fiancée, Stephanie, were on a flight back from Chicago when they opened their Ring app and saw someone climbing over their fence, according to Rowley.

“We looked on our app as we were taking off and we saw this ladder that was on our back porch going to our second floor,” Rowley said.

The man used a ladder from behind the couple’s shed to reach a second-story window that had been left cracked, Rowley said.

Once inside, the suspect removed his shirt and shoes, went through the refrigerator and helped himself to food.

“He took off his shirt, took off his shoes, went through our refrigerator and ate one of our yogurts, and we saw him eating it, and I heard him say something like ‘Oh, that’s good, maybe there’s more,’ and then he went back, got another one, ate that, ate some turkey, ate some cheese, and then right after that, just took a nap,” Rowley said.

The couple’s golden retriever, Nash, kept bringing the man different toys in an attempt to play.

Rowley texted San Diego police from 30,000 feet in the air and gave them access to his Ring camera so officers could monitor the suspect inside the home.

“We were basically giving them a play-by-play, like he’s in the living room right now, laying on the ground. One of the officers was talking to my brother and got my information and logged into the Ring app so he could see,” Rowley said.

Rowley said police arrived within five minutes and sent a drone inside the house, then entered with several officers with guns drawn. Nash greeted those officers with a toy as well.

San Diego police arrested 57-year-old John Cline on suspicion of first-degree burglary, Rowley said.

Rowley lives in the Sherman Heights neighborhood and said he plans to increase security at his home.

“We’re definitely going to increase security, were getting a taller fence,” Rowley said. “We’re going to get some alarm system for the house.”

Rowley described Nash as always friendly but “a little bit wild.”

“We thought, ‘Wow, he’s way more well-behaved with that guy than he is with us,'” Rowley said.

The Ring video has been seen more than 6 million times on the couple’s social media accounts, Rowley said.