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WILKES-BARRE — A Lancaster man was arraigned Tuesday on charges he stole a Rottweiler puppy from Tropical Pet Center in April.

City police allege Kenneth Lashawn White, 42, flashed a handgun when he stole the 9-week-old puppy named Remus on April 24.

Remus was recovered the next day near Wilkes-Barre Area’s Heights-Murray Elementary School.

According to the criminal complaint:

White entered the store in South Main Plaza with a child and a woman and played with several puppies while negotiating a price for one of the pups.

Police said they left the store but White returned by himself and flashed a handgun telling a clerk, “You don’t want any problems,” the complaint says.

White allegedly grabbed the puppy and fled the store in a silver Pontiac G6 toward Sambourne Street.

An officer spotted the vehicle on May 10 in the area of Carey Avenue and Lockhart Street. The officer stopped the vehicle and learned information about White.

Police allege White was picked up near his then North Sherman Street residence and driven to a liquor store in the plaza. They then went to the pet store where White negotiated prices for Rottweilers but left without a dog.

White returned to the pet store in the Pontiac driven by a teenager and occupied by another juvenile.

After stopping for money, White and the juveniles drove to the pet store and White told them to park around the corner and stay in the vehicle. White entered the pet store and stole the puppy, flashing a handgun tucked in his waistband at a clerk, the complaint says.

Surveillance cameras inside the pet store allegedly recorded the armed robbery and cameras in the plaza recorded the vehicle fleeing the scene.

White was arraigned by District Judge Rick Cronauer on two counts each of robbery, simple assault and corruption of minors and one count each of receiving stolen property and theft. He was jailed at the Luzerne County Correctional Facility for lack of $50,000 bail.

Kenneth White, of Lancaster, was arraigned Tuesday on charges he stole Remus (pictured), a Rottweiler puppy, from Tropical Pet Center in Wilkes-Barre.
https://www.timesleader.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/web1_Remus-1.jpg.optimal.jpgKenneth White, of Lancaster, was arraigned Tuesday on charges he stole Remus (pictured), a Rottweiler puppy, from Tropical Pet Center in Wilkes-Barre. Times Leader file photo

By Ed Lewis

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