Lady Gaga: why were the singer’s dogs stolen, did she get them back - and who was charged with stealing them?

The woman who returned Lady Gaga’s stolen French bulldogs has been arrested and charged among four others.

A violent dognapping attack took place in Hollywood two months ago, which led to the singer’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, being shot.

On February 26, Gaga Tweeted: “I continue to love you Ryan Fischer, you risked your life to fight for our family. You’re forever a hero.”

Lady Gaga - whose real name is Stefani Germanotta - rose to fame in 2008 with her debut single Just Dance. It came after she was a ghostwriter for the PussyCat Dolls and Britney Spears.

Fastforward a decade and the singer songwriter from New York has won an Oscar for best song following her performance in A Star Is Born in 2019 and, in June, she saw her latest album, Chromatica, become the fastest selling album of 2020.

Who took Lady Gaga’s dogs?

Lady Gaga’s dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was walking three of the pop star’s pets near the Hollywood district of Sunset Boulevard, LA, on February 24.

A group of men then jumped out of a car and tried to steal the animals.

Two of the dogs – Koji and Gustav – were taken and Fischer was shot in the struggle.

The men are said to have fled in a vehicle.

Fischer has since left hospital after undergoing surgery on a collapsed lung.

He has since spoken of how the third dog – Asia – “trotted over and laid next to me” after the attack.

Who are the suspects?

Three people who allegedly grabbed two of Lady Gaga’s French bulldogs and shot her dogwalker were charged with attempted murder and robbery on April 29.

The trio are among five who have been charged after what Los Angeles County District Attorney George Gascon called a “brazen street crime”.

Did Lady Gaga get the dogs back?

The unharmed dogs were later returned after Gaga offered a 500,000 dollar (£360,000) reward.

The woman who returned the dogs to an LAPD station initially appeared to be “uninvolved and unassociated” with the theft, officers said at the time.

Police later discovered the woman, 50-year-old Jennifer McBride, was in a relationship with the father of one of the suspects.

James Howard Jackson, 18, 19-year-old Jaylin Keyshawn White and Lafayette Shon Whaley, 27, all face charges of attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery and second-degree robbery.

Jackson also faces one count each of assault with a semi-automatic firearm and a felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle.

White faces one count of assault by means of force likely to produce great bodily injury.

Two others, Harold White and McBride, have been charged with one count each of accessory after the fact, and McBride faces one count of receiving stolen property.

Additonal reporting by PA.

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