A man has been arrested for stealing a lizard worth R750 from a pet shop in Benoni, North Rand police said on Wednesday.
Superintendent Andy Pieke said the man allegedly stole the bearded dragon lizard after buying four mice from the Scales and Web pet shop in Boksburg North at about noon on Tuesday.
”By chance another pet-shop owner from Benoni called and warned him that he had had some reptiles stolen out his shop earlier that same day,” he said.
Later the same day, the man returned to the pet shop with his girlfriend and offered to sell the owner some reptiles. The owner became suspicious and confronted the man.
The owner went to the man’s car and found the stolen lizard in a bag as well as other reptiles believed to have been stolen from the pet shop in Benoni.
The man was arrested and is expected to appear in a Boksburg court on Thursday. He faces charges of shoplifting.
”Boksburg North police will investigate the possibility that the suspect may have been responsible for the theft of other reptiles from various pet shops,” said Pieke. — Sapa