DENVER — In a matter of minutes, Jeremy McIntyre was beaten, mugged and had his dog stolen in downtown Denver over the weekend.
“Honestly it's my worst nightmare,” McIntyre says.
To find his dog, named "Finn," he’s been posting flyers, talking to strangers and walking miles to find him.
McIntyre was visiting Denver from Colorado Springs, but before making the drive back home, he took Finn for a walk. That's when it all went sideways.
“The next thing I know, some guy is saying, 'give me all of your stuff,' ” McIntyre says.
The two were on Colfax near Pearl Street when he was surrounded.
“From then on, there was probably three or four people behind me. I got whacked over the back of the head,” he says.
McIntyre suffered a concussion and scratches and bruises to his face.
“I was just kind of covering my head," he says.
But the worst pain came when the beating was over: Finn was gone. Mcintyre says a man he believes was only watching the fight offered to grab the dog's leash while he was being mugged.
“I think they realized the cops were going to show up. That's probably why they left with the dog,” McIntyre says.
He walked in downtown Denver all night and later filed a police report with Denver Police Department. A DPD spokesperson said they are investigating the assault.
“After this happened, I felt pretty hopeless and devastated,” McIntyre says.
But not all hope was lost. On Tuesday, the two separated friends were back together again.
McIntyre says a man was walking to dinner when another man handed Finn over.
“(He) asked him, basically, to take care of him because he couldn't take care of him anymore,” McIntyre says.
Just a short time later, McIntyre was met with a loving embrace from Finn.
“I just had to give him a hug and give him some love," he says. "I didn't think that moment would happen again."
This story was originally published by Gary Brode on KMGH.
