Carolyn Novotny, 65, appeared briefly Thursday before Judge Charles T. Lee at Superior Court in Derby and applied for accelerated rehabilitation, a diversionary program for first-time offenders which, if granted by a judge and completed successfully, would result in the charges she faces being dropped.
Judge Lee continued the case until May 22 for court officials to determine whether Novotny is eligible for the program.
Novotny surrendered to police April 15 after learning a warrant had been issued charging her with second-degree falsely reporting an incident and second-degree interfering with an officer.
Police say that on March 11 she reported to police that the family dog, a 7-year-old Yellow Labrador named Bella, had been stolen from her car when she was inside Home Depot on Main Street for about 10 minutes.
The family posted information about the alleged theft on “See, Click, Fix“ and the Valley Indy first reported the allegations March 13.
They also created a Facebook page, “Bring Bella Home,” where the dog’s story was shared thousands of times.
The alleged dognapping attracted considerable news attention and touched off a statewide search for the family pet by dog lovers.
In fact, Novotny had given the dog away, unbeknownst to her husband, via a Craigslist ad because she felt the family could no longer care for it, according to the arrest warrant.
On the day alleged dognapping was reported, Novotny was actually delivering the dog to a Simsbury couple, the warrant says.
The warrant says the Novotnys paid the Simsbury couple $750 to get Bella back on March 28.
Three days later, the warrant says Novotny came clean to Derby police about making up the story about Bella being stolen.
Novotny said she gave the dog away because she and her husband had moved from a house with two acres to a condo, and that because of a recent diagnosed medical condition, she gets stressed, and felt the responsibility of taking care of a dog too much for her, the warrant says.
(Valley Independent Sentinel - April 25, 2013)
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