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A Marquette teen is accused of punching a 9-year-old boy in the face and stealing his German shepherd puppy Tuesday.

The boy's mom said it might be a new low for Salina.

"I was born and raised here, and I have never in my life read in the Salina Journal about a 9-year-old boy being robbed for a dog," April Hyman said.

Lacey L. Freeborn, 18, was arrested on charges of robbery and battery. Brittney L. Brown, 15, 1419 Brittany, was also arrested in connection with the incident. On Wednesday evening, Freeborn remained in Saline County Jail, and Brown had been released.

Hyman said her son, Juan Whitaker Jr., and friends Robert Brown, 9, and Joseph Brown, 7, were walking their dogs in an alley in the 1200 block of North Seventh Street at 8 p.m. when a red Chevrolet Blazer pulled up and two teenaged girls got out. One of them said Juan's dog was hers, she said.

"She jumps out of the car and says, 'Give me that dog. It's mine,' and he said it was his," Hyman said.

Hyman said Juan's 8-month-old German shepherd puppy, Killer, had been given to him when the dog was 2 months old by a friend of his grandmother's who could no longer care for the animal. Killer stays at Joseph and Robert's house, where there is a fenced yard, she said. Juan visits daily, and the boys walk their dogs together.

During Tuesday night's dog walk, Juan said, some people in a green truck pulled up first and said Killer belonged to them. A short time later, the Blazer pulled up. Juan said the people in the truck told the girls in the Blazer to let the little kid have the dog.

Instead, Juan said, the two girls got out and took the Browns' chow-mix and put it in their Blazer. However, the dog jumped back out when the boys called to her.

Juan said the girls started "wrestling" him for his dog. He said one of the girls threw him on the ground and punched him in the face, and the other girl kicked him in the stomach.

"She got to whuppin' my son like he was a grown man," Hyman said. "She was punching him in the face, and he held up the dog chain so it was blocking his face, so she started kicking him."

Juan's grandmother, Linda Hyman, said Juan told her "he covered his face so she couldn't hit him, but he held onto the chain so she couldn't take the dog, either."

Salina Deputy Police Chief Carson Mansfield said that, through their investigation, police identified Freeborn as the girl who hit Juan and took the dog, loading it in her Blazer and leaving rapidly.

He said that, after police contacted her, she took the dog to the police station Tuesday night.

Linda Hyman said that, about 12:30 a.m., police called the family with the news that they had the dog and that he could be picked up at the station.

"I went in and woke Juan up and told him the police had his dog," April Hyman said. "He's smiling ear to ear but can't pull himself out of bed."

Linda and April Hyman went to get the dog without Juan.

April Hyman said she surprised the desk officers when she asked for Killer.

"When I walked up to the police department, if you can only imagine the looks on their faces when I said, 'I'm here to pick up Killer,' " she said.

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