A TV reporter who was filming a segment about a suspected dognapping ended up spotting the bloke with the dog and were able to reunite the pooch with its owner.
A crew from 7News in Boston went out to report on the suspected theft of 13-month old German short haired pointer Titus, who was taken from his owner's car.
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While the crew were filming, they saw Titus being walked by another man, who they stopped before calling the police.
Footage caught the moment reporter Juliana Mazza approached the man and asked him how he came to have the dog.
The man, who has been identified as Kyle Garipey, said it was all a misunderstanding but has since been charged with larceny of more than $1,200, and breaking and entering into a vehicle to commit a felony.
Gariepy said: "He was just barking in the car and I walked past the car and I thought it was supposed to be a dog I was dog walking.
"It wasn't a kidnapping, it was just a simple mistake."
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Cops didn't not accept his explanation, saying Gariepy hadn't tried to get in touch with the owner - whose number is on Titus' collar - or the police.
Gariepy says he did try to call the owners but the phone wasn't working.
Titus has since been reunited with his owner Greg Siesczkiewicz.
Siesczkiewicz told 7News: "I'm just glad that the person came back and I'm just glad that you guys were there.
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"If anyone ever sees this who questions the value of media, social media, broadcast media, this proves it."
Speaking to Inside Edition, Mazza said: "The first thing I did was I ask if I could pet the dog, because I wanted to get down to the nametag to be able to confirm that the name matched the name of the missing dog.
"He said that he was supposed to be walking a dog and he somehow grabbed the wrong dog. And 24 hours had gone by, and he never once had tried to call the police or try to call the dog's owner, whose number is on the back of the dog tag."
She added: "Never in my wildest dreams could I have imagined that I would be the one to find the dog."
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Posting about the incident on Twitter Mazza wrote: "Just need to say how grateful I am to my photojournalist that day, John Guice!
"He actually spoke with the man first about how beautiful Titus was.
"As I walked over I quickly realised we found the dog and had the suspect. Wouldn't have been possible without him!"
Featured Image Credit: 7News