Staunton man charged in school scam, dog theft
STAUNTON - Wednesday started out poorly for one Staunton man. Then it got a little worse.
A day before his legal troubles began, police were alerted by the principal at McSwain Elementary School in Staunton that a man had reportedly been collecting donations for a school fundraiser on behalf of the American Heart Association, according to a Staunton police report.
Authorities said the man, 48-year-old John C. Isaacs, was allegedly going door-to-door with his children from March 11 until Tuesday soliciting funds. After the school received several calls questioning the man's fundraising activities, Staunton police were notified.
Principal Kim Crocker said the fundraiser itself was legitimate and that it ended Monday.
Police said Isaacs is suspected of pocketing some of the donations, and said the alleged thefts amounted to less than $100. On Wednesday, police charged him with misdemeanor embezzlement and he was released on a personal recognizance bond, the police report said.
However, later in the day police again met with Isaacs, this time on allegations that he and his wife sold a dog they were reportedly being paid to care for, Staunton police said.
On March 7, Staunton police received a call from a 34-year-old Staunton man who thought his dog might have been stolen. The man told police that in December he was moving but said could not take his pit bull with him. After scouring Craigslist online, the man said he found an ad from a Staunton couple offering temporary care for pets in need.
Police said the man met with Isaacs and his wife, 34-year-old Hope A. Isaacs, and they reportedly told the man they would care for his dog until he could take him back, the report stated. Police said the man paid the couple on a month-to-month basis, and that he visited the dog each month.
In February when the man called the Isaacs to set up a visit, they told him the dog had gotten loose and was missing. The man grew suspicious, police said, and eventually called the couple back and said he was ready to bring his dog home.
"That's when they said it was still lost," said Officer Jennifer Stevens of the Staunton Police Department.
Police investigated and discovered the dog wasn't missing but had reportedly been sold online through Facebook, Stevens said. The couple continued to collect payments from the dog's original owner even though it was no longer in their care, she said.
John and Hope Isaacs are charged with larceny of a dog, two counts of obtaining money by false pretenses and giving false information to police, Stevens said.
Police recovered the dog.
Records show that in 2008 police charged John Isaacs with inadequate care of three cats, but the charge was later dismissed. He is being held at Middle River Regional Jail without bond on the charges connected to the missing dog.
Hope Isaacs was released on an unsecured bond.