A woman charged with helping to steal Lady Gaga's dogs is hoping to fetch the reward money that was promised for their return.
Jennifer McBride, one of five people arrested in connection with the 2021 armed dognapping of French bulldogs Koji and Gustav, filed a lawsuit against the "Bad Romance" singer Feb. 24, demanding $500,000, the sum of the reward money that the star had promised anyone who safely returned her dogs, per court documents obtained by E! News.
According to the documents, McBride contacted Gaga after the incident and delivered the dogs to the Los Angeles Police Department Olympic Community Police Station. McBride alleges the singer breached the contract by "refusing" to pay her, the lawsuit states.
Per the documents, McBride believes that Gaga's promise to pay the reward money of $500,000.00 "no questions asked" was made "with the intent to defraud and induce members of the public," including herself, "to rely upon it and to act upon said promise by locating and delivering" the bulldogs.
McBride is suing Gaga for $500,000 in compensatory damages, alleging pain and suffering, mental anguish and loss of enjoyment of life.
E! News reached out to Lady Gaga's rep for comment and did not hear back.
In February 2021, Gaga's dog walker, Ryan Fischer, was walking the singer's three French bulldogs in Los Angeles when police say two of the pets were stolen. Fischer was shot and injured in the incident and the third dog ran away before being retrieved by police.
The following April, five people were arrested in connection with the incident, including McBride, who was charged with being an accessory after the crime. In 2022, she pleaded no contest to one count of receiving stolen property and was sentenced to two years of probation, according to the Los Angeles Times.
Per the outlet, who cited court records, McBride's charge of being an accessory was dropped as part of a plea deal.
Another one of the five suspects, James Howard Jackson, pleaded no contest to one count of attempted murder for the shooting and was sentenced to 21 years in prison.