Authorities arrested a man Monday accused of stealing a poodle while it was out walking with its owner.

San Mateo police say the dog-snatching happened shortly after 9 a.m. near Palm and Hayward avenues. A masked man snuck up from behind a woman who was walking the poodle and picked up the dog before unhooking it from its leash, according to a news release from the police department.

The masked man then got into a vehicle with the poodle and fled.

San Mateo police later pulled over the man suspected of nabbing the dog on Highway 101, north of Marsh Road. The man was arrested on suspicion of second-degree robbery, while the dog was returned to its owner, police said.

Investigators suspect the man and the dog’s owner knew each other.