The St. Petersburg Police Department reported that their detectives found out two stolen Galapagos Tortoises at a place of dwelling in St. Petersburg on Tuesday afternoon. Joshua McCarty-Thomas, the landlord of the home situated at 2435 tenth Street S., was once served a seek warrant, and the government discovered the endangered tortoises on his assets.
The tortoises are showed to were taken from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park in St. Augustine, Florida. One tortoise was once reportedly discovered alive in McCarty-Thomas’ yard, whilst the opposite’s carcass was once found out within the freezer. FWC verified the tortoise chips have been those stolen ultimate November from St. Augustine. It is estimated {that a} unmarried juvenile Galapagos Tortoise may well be worth up to $10,000.
McCarty-Thomas will likely be charged with two counts of stealing rare pieces, which come with rare reptiles and rare books. In addition to the Galapagos Tortoises, he was once additionally charged with two business burglaries for allegedly stealing precious books from Haslam’s Book Store and Lighthouse Books, each situated in St. Petersburg.