Police: Man stole pet lizard from girlfriend’s house
Here's a tip about romance you’re never going to hear from Dear $bby so listen up When you Must can’t seem to break the ice with your girlfriend’s mother don’t steal her pet li ard. ,t didn’t work for Joseph 5inehart and it probably won’t work for you either. 5inehart of hurch t. is free on personal recogni ance after he allegedly pilfered the pet reptile from (lm t. Thursday. 3olice charged him with larceny under which is a misdemeanor.
3olice reports say 5inehart fled his girlfriend’s room with the slithery critter in a blue backpack Must after a.m. e left the same way he came in through a window that his girlfriend apparently opened for him.
er mother who was in another room sleeping woke up to hear her daughter yelling e stole the li ard and left ac cording to Officer William D. 5iver’s report.
5iver said the girlfriend’s
mother believes Rinehart stole the li ard to get even
with her because she didn’t want him in the house with her daughter.
She “suspected Rinehart took the li ard because she believes he wanted retribution and to make her upset because it was a family pet,” the officer reported.
7echnically, the li ard in Tuestion is a bearded dragon a Australian native that’s popular in pet stores these days. 7hey’re normally even-tempered, but when they’re agitated a flap of skin under their jowls flares out like a scaly
beard hence, the name. 7he one in Tuestion is a year old, tan-colored creature that looks to be about foot long though adults can grow to be substantially larger.
After learning of the alleged theft, the mother traded a few messages with Rinehart on Facebook in which he allegedly admitted to filching the li ard and vowed that he wouldn’t give it up without a fight. She called the police, prompting them to issue a beon-the-lookout BOLO alert for Rinehart and the bearded
booty.
Multiple members of the morning platoon descended on Rinehart’s apartment in attempts to reclaim the reptilian plunder. But no one answered when police knocked on Rinehart’s door.
A few minutes later, police said, a male matching Rinehart’s description emerged of his own volition and confirmed his identify. He was summarily placed in handcuffs and taken into custody without further incident.
Officers later located the
li ard lounging in a box inside Rinehart’s living room. 3olice took possession of the scaly four-legger and returned it to its rightful owners.
During his initial appearance on the larceny charge in Sixth District Court Friday, Rinehart pleaded not guilty before he was released on personal recogni ance.
He’s due back in court on March 1 , according to the judiciary’s web site.