PROVIDENCE JOURNAL (Rhode Island) 13 January 08 Pair accused of swiping snake from N. Kingstown shop (Donita Naylor)
Two 18-year-olds who are accused of trying to steal a python on Tuesday might be feeling a bit constricted at the ACI this weekend.
Adam Heroux, 29, co-owner of the Critter Hut, 38 Frenchtown Rd. in North Kingstown, said a former employee was caught on camera helping her friend shoplift a young snake.
Amanda King, 18, and Joshua Olsen, 18, of Providence, were in District Court Friday on a charge of converting an item to their own use without paying. They were both sent to the Adult Correctional Institutions for parole violations.
Heroux said King, who had worked at the store two years ago, visited Tuesday with a friend. An employee who was showing them a cage with three snakes got called away, Heroux said, and King offered to close the cage.
“She apparently forgot that we had a camera system,” Heroux said. As soon as the employee left, he said, King allegedly helped her companion put the snake in his pocket.
The snake is a baby ball python, named Circus, about a foot long and less than an inch thick. Ball pythons are popular pets because they rarely grow longer than 4 to 6 feet and have a docile nature. They eat small mice when young and rats as adults.
They are called ball pythons because “when they get scared or nervous, they curl up in a ball,” Heroux said. “It’s fairly easy to stick in your pocket.”
Circus, a tan snake with fancy dark brown markings, was returned to the store, where it is being sold on consignment for Marcia Biers of Saunderstown, who helps find homes for unwanted iguanas.
A plea of not guilty was entered for King and a court date set for Wednesday on the converting charge. Bail was set at $3,000 with surety on each of two probation violations, meaning she must pay $600. She couldn’t.
Olsen went from his District Court appearance to face a first-degree robbery charge in Superior Court across the hall. He was ordered held without bail and sent to the ACI for violating probation on a charge of driving with a suspended license.
Pair accused of swiping snake from N. Kingstown shop