Bruce Gardner's Dog Triggers Robbery Scare at His Orem, Utah, Home

The call was coming from inside the house, which is why Bruce Gardner feared the worst.

The Orem, Utah, resident had been at work for only a few minutes when his cell phone rang. His home phone number showed up on the caller ID, but there wasn't anyone at his house at the time.

"I knew nobody was home, so I answered it," Gardner (pictured at left) told the Deseret News in Salt Lake City. "I said, 'Hello,' and all I could hear in the background was all this rustling noise. I wasn't quite sure what it was."

Scratching and heavy breathing could also be heard, and Gardner (pictured at left) became frightened.

"My mind immediately went to, 'I'm being robbed,' " he said.

As he rushed home, he called police and alerted them to the suspected break-in.

"So you can hear something?" the 911 dispatcher asked.

"Yeah, I kept yelling, 'hello, hello,' and all I can hear is things being thrown around and stuff," Gardner replied.

When police arrived at Gardner's home, they found no sign of a break-in, and Gardner was stumped.

"Sure enough, nothing was stolen; nothing was taken," Gardner told Salt Lake City TV station KTVX.

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Gardner began looking for the phone, and when he found it, he realized what had happened. The phone was lying in the garden in the backyard.

"It was really dirty. I picked it up and sure enough there are teeth marks on it," Gardner said.

And then the furry culprit came forward. Gardner's dog, Maya, had gotten the phone and chewed it, her teeth hitting the redial button and calling Gardner's cell phone. A robbery scare turned into a case of a bad dog (pictured above) causing mischief.

"The cops got here so fast, they probably distracted Maya from finishing eating the phone," Gardner told local TV station KSL.

The silly story has become somewhat of a talking point at the police station in Orem, police Sgt. Craig Martinez told KSL.

"I've heard of some pretty strange things, but this ranks right up there with something I've never heard of happening before," Martinez said. "The whole thing is curious. It's just really odd."

In case you are concerned about real robberies at your home, check out these 10 tips for safeguarding your house and these cheap home security tricks.





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