Arrest warrant is issued for footballer Daniel Sturridge over $30,000 reward allegedly owed to man who found his missing dog in 2019

An arrest warrant has been issued for Daniel Sturridge after he failed to appear in a Los Angeles court over money he allegedly owes to a man who says he found his dog.

The former England striker, 34, publicly offered a reward for the safe return of his pet Pomeranian in July 2019 after revealing it had been stolen from his house in LA.

Foster Washington, an American rapper known as Killa Fame, took credit for reuniting Sturridge with his dog Lucci, but said he did not receive the promised payment, leading him to launch a civil lawsuit.

In December 2021, an LA court ordered Sturridge to pay Washington $30,000 (£24,400) following a default judgment, which came after the ex-Liverpool star did not respond to the complaint.

The Sky Sports pundit was called back to court last month for a ‘debtor’s exam’, where he was meant to answer questions on his finances.

However, Sturridge did not attend and court documents seen by Mail Sport show he has now been served a bench warrant – a summons issued by a judge to arrest a defendant and bring them before court. 

A new hearing has been set for November 30.

Sturridge posted about the dispute on X, formerly Twitter, following the initial court ruling in December 2021.

He wrote: ‘Just to let you know the truth at Christmas. I met a young boy who found my dog and paid him a reward, which he was delighted with, as was I to get my dog back because he was stolen.