House-sitter arrested, accused of stealing homeowner’s car and dog, leaving dog for dead

AURORA, Colo. (WKRC) – A house-sitter was arrested weeks after he allegedly stole a homeowner’s car and dog, then abandoned the vehicle and left the dog to die inside.

Colorado Air National Guardsman Andrew Beckham left his home in the hands of 28-year-old Andrew Jansen, a man he found on a website called TrustedHouseSitters, while he was deployed overseas for three months. In addition to the home itself, Jansen was also to watch over Beckham’s 11-year-old Siberian Husky, Maverick.

To Beckham’s horror, less than a month after he left for his deployment he spotted Jansen on surveillance cameras placing Maverick in Beckham’s Subaru Forester and driving away, the airman told the New York Post. Beckham returned home well ahead of schedule on April 22 after leaving the country in early April.

He joined the search, but the first revelation only came on May 2., when Beckham’s stolen Subaru was discovered in a private garage in a luxury apartment building. Unfortunately, Maverick was found deceased in the vehicle.

Jansen was eventually arrested in Miami-Dade county on May 16, CBS Miami reported. He was accused of interfering with first-responders medical call regarding his father at around 3:40 a.m., but he fled the area shortly after to avoid capture. He was apprehended at Jackson South Hospital when he attempted to visit his father, who had since been hospitalized.

Although Jansen’s arrest warrant was for charges of felony motor vehicle theft and other general theft charges, his specific charges were not announced.