Getty Images file photo | Clip artA man pretending to be a police officer stole a puppy from a van near Buena Vista Park on Friday.

A man impersonating a police officer stole a 6-week-old puppy from two people sleeping in a van near Buena Vista Park on Friday, police Officer Gordon Shyy said Monday.

The two victims, a 29-year-old woman and 22-year-old man, were sleeping in their van in the 800 block of Buena Vista Avenue West about 6:30 a.m. when they heard a loud knocking on the van's door. The person outside the van knocking identified himself as a police officer.

The victims opened the van and the suspect asked them for their identification, Shyy said. The victims then asked him for his identification, being that he did not appear to be a police officer and the suspect then pepper-sprayed the victims.

While the victims were incapacitated, the suspect reached into the van and snatched the victims' 6-week-old puppy, described by police as a pit bull-Rhodesian ridgeback mix with brindle markings.

The suspect fled with the puppy in an unknown direction and no arrest has been made.

He was described as a man wearing a blue hooded sweatshirt, Shyy said. The victims were treated at the scene for their nonlife-threatening injuries.

Anyone with information on the missing puppy is encouraged to call police at (415) 575-4444 or text at TIP411 with “SFPD” in the message.