Meatball the pit bull, car stolen in Raleigh

A group of friends had a car stolen late last month with their 6-month-old pit bull named Meatball inside.

The dog’s three owners say the pocket bully is worth about $4,000 more than the 2002 Toyota Corolla also stolen on March 30 near WakeMed. Raleigh police are investigating the crimes.

“He was in a rough situation where he was living in a shed,” owner Kyle Rottenkolber said of Meatball. “Nobody else would take him in.”

On March 30, Rottenkolber and his friend Zach Kolcher, who also cares for Meatball, offered to give a stranger a ride from a gas station on Gorman Street to Wake Inn at 3120 New Bern Ave.

Meatball and the man they picked up were in the back seat. Both Rottenkolber and Kolcher got out of the car to look at something that caught their eye.

“We heard the car turn over that is what made us turn back around and he had gone in reverse,” Rottenkolber said.

“I yelled, ‘Kyle! We gotta go! The car is gone!’” Kolcher said. “I tried to chase after it.”

Authorities are still looking for Meatball and the Corolla belonging to Rottenkolber’s girlfriend.

“We then called the police,” Kolcher said.

Meatball’s owners have posted to social media and are scouring shelters, hoping to find their beloved pit bull.

“I dream about it that he is not safe, and someone is not taking care of him,” Kolcher said. “That’s the hardest part.

“Just please help us bring him home,” Rottenkolber said.

Rottenkolber said his phone, left inside the Corolla, was found on the ground near N.C. State University and returned to him.

Anyone who knows of Meatball or the Corolla's whereabouts is asked to call Rottenkolber at 919-671-1840.