PROVIDENCE JOURNAL (Rhode Island) 20 July 07 Man charged after giving snake to police (Paul Davis)
North Kingstown: A West Warwick man who tried to pawn his boa constrictor off on the police faces two misdemeanor charges for allegedly lying to officers.
You might say he’s been snakebit.
Michael A. Medeiros, of 127 Gough Ave., was arrested Tuesday night for abandoning his 6-foot-long boa constrictor at the Post Road police station.
According to the police, Medeiros appeared at the station Monday and said he found the snake — native to Mexico and South America — slithering along Ten Rod Road shortly after 10 p.m.
But the police — after baby-sitting the snake overnight — on Tuesday discovered Medeiros had tried to sell the same snake to a local pet store the day before.
The store declined to buy the snake, and Medeiros bought a smaller snake, a python, instead, Capt. Charles Brennan said yesterday.
After talking to workers at Critter Hut Aquarium & Pets in North Kingstown, a police officer later questioned Medeiros, who admitted he owned the snake but could no longer care for it because it was too big, Brennan said. “He ended up buying a second snake and abandoning the first one — on us,” Brennan said.
Medeiros, also charged with obstructing a police officer, is scheduled to appear in Washington County District Court on July 31.
The abandoned boa, which spent the night in a police lieutenant’s office, is now on display in a large cement and glass cage at Regal Reptiles, a reptile exhibit in Providence.
The snake, however, yesterday showed little interest in its mid-afternoon snack — a frozen rat.
“It has a respiratory infection,” said Shawn Fay, an owner of the exhibit. “We’ll ask our vet to look at it. It may need a shot.”
Man charged after giving snake to police

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