Authorities are investigating the theft of a pony belonging to a 6-year-old boy after the animal was reported missing from a family’s property in Jurupa Valley last week.
Around 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, March 1, deputies from the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department were dispatched to the 6000 block of Ridgeview Avenue to take a report of grand theft, Sgt. Wenndy Brito-Gonzalez said in a statement. The stolen pony, named Little Evil, belonged to 6-year-old Ruben Vasquez Jr.
On Friday, Ruben Vasquez Sr. arrived home from work and saw Little Evil in a pen with the family’s other pony. When he returned about an hour later to feed them, Little Evil was gone.
Although the family initially considered the possibility that the pony had escaped, they later found bolt cutters and a broken section of fence nearby, leading them to believe Little Evil had been stolen.
The family has started raising funds for a replacement horse, but still hopes Little Evil will be returned. Vasquez Jr. told the news station he was heartbroken and misses his pet.
“I can’t believe it,” Vasquez Jr.’s mother, Myra Anguiano, told KCAL News. “It’s very heartbreaking for me as a mother to see my son being so sad about it.”
As of Wednesday afternoon, Little Evil was still missing, Sgt. Brito-Gonzalez said.
Anyone with information is asked to contact the Riverside County Sheriff’s Department non-emergency line at 951-776-1099.
