PALM BEACH POST (Florida) 26 September 13 Suspected Port St. Lucie chameleon thieves trip up buying reptile’s food with Petco card (Sonja Isger)
A vividly colored, three-horned Jackson chameleon is dead and a 20-year-old is facing charges for stealing the reptile from his secured aquarium in a Port St. Lucie pet store.
Police say Aiden Zachary Wells’ mistake was using his Petco rewards card to buy live crickets and meal worms on his way out of the store.
The chameleon was stolen Tuesday night from the Petco at 1753 NW St. Lucie West Blvd.
Investigators reviewed the store’s video and say they believe Wells worked with a 17-year-old accomplice. They were in the store for about an hour staking out the home of the $140 chameleon behind a secure door.
“One of the suspects must have seen an employee enter the aquarium and used the employee’s code to gain access to the chameleon. While the one suspect took the chameleon out of the aquarium, the other suspect stood as a lookout,” according to the report issued by Port St. Lucie police Thursday morning.
They said they identified Wells to be the lookout who used his Petco rewards card at the check-out counter. When they contacted him, police say he confessed to his role in the theft and agreed to bring the chameleon back to the store, “unfortunately the chameleon died in transit.”
Wells faces charges for retail theft. He was released on his own recognizance until he must appear in court, police said.
Jackson chameleons look like mini triceratops dinosaurs and are among the most popular species of chameleons to be kept as pets.
The live in trees and have a prehensile tail that helps them keep a grip as they crawl from branch to branch, according to the San Diego Zoo website. They grow to about 12 inches long and are native to Kenya and Tanzania.
But you may have seen them most recently in those Valspar Paint commercials on television.
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