Shop lifters get away with ball python

Guess some people really want to get into the hobby. Here's a story from today's headlines.

<http://www.pe.com/localnews/inland/s...3e32.html?npc>
07:59 AM PST on Thursday, January 29, 2009

Here's a crime you don't hear about every day: The shop-lifting of a python snake.

The purloined python was stolen Tuesday by a man who snatched the critter from its display cage at a Yucca Valley pet store and hid it beneath his black leather jacket, San Bernardino County sheriff's Sgt. James Porter said in a written statement.

The thief and a woman accomplice had previously asked the clerk at Desert Pets about the functionality of the store's surveillance cameras, according to the statement. Then the couple walked through the store for several minutes until the clerk became distracted.

The cameras recorded the theft -- from several angles.

Missing is a 2 to 3-foot-long brown-and-black ball python. Also missing are the two thieves, both of whom were wearing black jeans. Anyone with information may call Porter at 760-366-4183.

-Richard Brooks

wow. that poor snake. Hope they find the thieves and the snake.