Arrest warrant out for former Liverpool striker Daniel Sturridge for failing to appear in court over $30,000 missing dog reward

An arrest warrant has been issued for former England striker Daniel Sturridge after his failure to appear in a Los Angeles court.

The case is regarding a monetary dispute with an individual who claims to have played a pivotal role in reuniting Sturridge with his stolen pet dog. The 34-year-old ex-footballer publicly offered a reward for the safe return of his cherished Pomeranian in July 2019.

Foster Washington, an American rapper known as Killa Fame, claimed to have reunited Sturridge with his canine companion, but disputes arose when the promised reward was not delivered, leading Washington to file a civil lawsuit against the athlete. In December 2021, a Los Angeles court issued a default judgment mandating Sturridge to pay Washington $30,000 (£24,400).

Sturridge had been called back to court in the previous month for a ‘debtor's exam’ to address questions regarding his financial situation. However, the footballer did not attend, and court documents disclosed by Mail Sport reveal that he has been served with a bench warrant – a summons for his arrest and appearance in court.

Washington claims to have spent over $10,000 on legal fees and told Mail Sport: For me, it’s a point of principle. He promised me the money. It’s a substantial amount of money that could change my family’s life. He thinks he is above the law. He thinks because he’s rich he doesn’t have to respond to what’s going on. That’s why I had to have the judge issue a warrant so he has to pay the money. Meanwhile, Thomas Scully, Washington’s attorney, was scathing in his comments regarding Sturridge.

A lot of people just decide to ignore lawsuits for whatever reason, and a lot of times they get away with it because they don’t have any money. But it doesn’t seem that Daniel Sturridge should get away with it. He has the money to pay and he has the money to hire a lawyer, he said. He just doesn’t feel like it. He probably doesn’t feel like he is beholden to California courts and so he is probably just going to continue ignoring it. But I have some other tools in the Californian civil procedure and I am going to keep on trying to pursue with that. This isn’t the end of the story. I am certainly not giving up yet.

Sturridge had previously posted about the incident on social media back in December 2021. 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," he wrote on Twitter. "Other people are trying to benefit for their own personal gain. Thank you to the young boy once again. I’m very grateful Lucci is back with our family.

The forward played for Manchester City, Chelsea and Liverpool in the Premier League before finishing his career in Australia with Perth Glory.