Caught On Camera: Uber Eats Driver Suspected Of Stealing Beloved Cat While On Delivery Call

STUDIO CITY (CBSLA) - A neighbor's security camera caught the exact moment when an Uber Eats driver, out for a delivery in Studio City, picked up Patrick Lewis' cat, Hog, placed it in the back of her car, and then walked out of frame with a brown bag.

"I've actually only watched it one time. I can't," Lewis said of the video of his cat being put into the back of the car. "For me, it's heartbreaking to see. That's my little girl being kidnapped pretty much. That's what it looked like to me."

Lewis went looking for Hog, who he found 18 years ago in Brooklyn, on Tuesday. Things began to click for Lewis once he started talking to his neighbors.

One neighbor said she saw a woman pick Hog up, while another neighbor looked at their security video, and, finally, a third neighbor identified the woman in the video as the person who delivered the food she'd ordered and still had a receipt with the first name of the driver.

"...which is the weirdest thing, that she literally...she picks up the cat, throws her in and then drops off a delivery from The Counter upstairs, like just kind of...I don't know and then just drives off," Lewis said. "She doesn't look like a stray. She's not a...she has a collar."

Lewis, armed with a receipt and the first name of the driver called Uber Eats. He said he made it very clear to the company that they're not mad at the driver and don't want her to be in any trouble.

"We just want our cat back. That's all we want out of this," he said.

A spokesman for Uber said they've been in contact with the driver and are trying, saying in a statement:

"What the customers reported is unacceptable. We are working to get the cat returned, stand ready to help in the police investigation, and will take the appropriate action against the delivery person."

Lewis said generations of neighbors have loved his cast, even hosting drawing contests of Hog for children and making outfits for her. He said he has a lifetime of memories with her and on this Father's Day, said he does not want this to be the last one.

"Hog is in a weird way the first thing I kind of was a dad to, so we just want her back."