THE BERGEN RECORD (Hackensack, New Jersey) 14 July 05 Missing cobra prankster charged (Elena Matsui)

Pequannock: A king cobra on the loose in Pompton Plains? Just kidding.

Police received a phone call from a resident Tuesday about a poster for a missing snake. It said a cobra, answering to "Fang" or "King Fangson," had been missing since July 6.

When police investigated, they discovered more than a dozen posters tacked to utility poles around Colfax Drive.

The posters promised a cash reward for the return of the snake and warned that "Fang" was dangerous when provoked.

But police say that once they called the number listed on the poster they realized it was just a practical joke between two friends. And now one of the pranksters faces a court date, charged with disturbing the peace.

Ironically, the initial police response ended up creating more alarm than the posters.

"Once police started pulling down the posters, more residents called to find out what was going on because they saw officers around the area," police Lt. Dan Dooley said. "We received four or five calls from people."

He said police called the man whose number was printed on the poster - and found that he hadn't even seen it. But the man attributed the prank to his friend, Eric Soder of Pompton Plains, Dooley said.

The man, who police did not identify, claimed he and Soder, 23, of Manor Avenue, have been exchanging practical jokes for some time and that this was Soder's latest retaliation. Dooley said this was the first occasion that one of those jokes has resulted in intervention by police.

Soder was arrested Tuesday evening and charged with disorderly conduct for creating alarm in the community.

He must appear in Municipal Court and, if convicted, faces fines of up to $500.

Reached at his home Wednesday evening, Soder expressed embarrassment, but also determination.

Asked whether he and the other man, whom he would not identify, would halt their shenanigans, he said, "No way! Why should we stop? We shouldn't have to stop."

Soder wouldn't describe past episodes and couldn't say how it all got started, but on Wednesday, the two pranksters were still at it: Having come out that morning to find his car soaped up, Soder retaliated by using cardboard to jam the doors shut on his friend's car.
Missing cobra prankster charged

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