Facebook comment leads to arrest in attempted pig-napping case

PHOENIX (KSAZ) - It's one thing when thieves go after property, but when they go after pets, it becomes extremely personal, as is the case with Sprinkles, the micro pig.

"He chased that pig around and you can see it, it's brilliant on that camera, beautiful color and audio and I gotta give the pig credit, he held his own, he was able to escape from that burglar," said Lt. Paul Taylor with the Phoenix Police Department.

Police say they got a break in the case after the story went viral. Sprinkles' family was reading comments about the story on the FOX 10 Facebook page and noticed one suspicious remark.

The family did a little investigating and found one of the suspects' social media pages.

"We called the police stations, told them we had a lead and turned out we were right," said Alexis Howson, Sprinkles' owner. "Our gut intuition worked out."

Police tracked down the suspect who ultimately confessed.

"He did admit to being in that home committing the burglary and attempting to kidnap the pig," Lt. Taylor said. "He was also nice enough to identify his friend for us."

Both suspects, just 15-year-old, were taken into custody about a week after the incident.

"I was super worried, but now, I know they're in police custody," Alexis said. "They won't be coming back and Sprinkles is safe."

As for Sprinkles, his owner says he was really shaken up after the attempted pig-napping, but she believes he has an intuition that this case has been solved.

"He was very sad, I could tell he was very scared," Alexis said. "He was extra cuddly, but now I see he has more pep to his step. He's back to normal."

Police say both teenagers are now facing felony burglary charges.