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Lady Gaga's alleged dognapper has been recaptured five months after he was mistakenly freed from a LA jail.
James Howard Jackson, 19 – who was one of five people arrested after Gaga's dog walker Ryan Discher was shot and her French bulldogs were stolen in February 2021 – was previously released due to a “clerical error” but he has now been recaptured.
Last month, the Los Angeles Sheriff's Department Major Crime Team asked for the US Marshals help to apprehend Jackson, offering a $5,000 reward for information leading to his arrest, but warned he “should be considered armed and dangerous”.
Shortly after the 19 year old was released from jail, Ryan appealed for him to turn himself back to authorities.
He said in a statement: “While I'm deeply concerned at the events that led to his release, I'm confident law enforcement will rectify the error.
“I ask for Mr. Jackson to turn himself over to the authorities, so resolution to the crime committed against me runs its course, whatever the courts determine that outcome to be. Thank you to everyone who is supporting me during this time.”
Jackson – whose full list of charges includes attempted murder, conspiracy to commit robbery, second-degree robbery, assault with a semiautomatic firearm and a felon carrying a concealed firearm in a vehicle – is accused of shooting the dog walker with a .40-calibre handgun with him and two suspects allegedly fleeing the scene in a car with two dogs. The animals were returned to police two days later.
A woman who returned the dogs after claiming to have found them and the father of another suspect were also charged.
Ryan suffered a collapsed lung in the attack and admitted medics were initially unsure he'd survive.
He previously said: “The people in the ER, who I had seen that night, told me they didn't think I was gonna survive that night.”
He also praised his famous boss for her support throughout his recovery.
He said: “She's helped me so much. She's been a friend for me and after I was attacked, my family was flown out and I had trauma therapists flown to me and I stayed at her house for months while friends comforted me and security was around me.”
