A man in Florida tried to steal a python by stuffing the snake in his pants at a pet store.
It didn’t go as he'd planned.
Travis Treder went into Animal House Pet Center in St. Petersburg, Fla., and placed a baby python in his front pocket.
The incident was captured via a security camera.
“He’s been in twice before over the past nine months and we didn’t realize he stole anything until after the fact,” store owner Steve Silk told WFLA-TV.
In the footage, Treder is seen grabbing the snake from its enclosure. Silk then confronts him about it.
“We waited on him for probably 15 minutes and then we went into the office to see what he was going to do, and sure enough, he targeted our higher-end snakes again,” Silk added.
Silk said Treder has stolen snakes and lizards in the past few months. They’ve been on the lookout for him since. “This time we printed out pictures of him and put it behind our register,” he noted.
The python costs around $150. Silk said that Treder has likely stolen about $1,000 worth of animals in the past, WPXI reported. He generally targets the store’s higher-end snakes.
To detain him, store employees used zip-ties until police arrived.
