Police: Couple steals $300 albino python from pet store

Massachusetts (AP) (12/28/20)— Police in Peabody, Massachusetts, are looking for a couple who slithered away with a snake worth $300 from a city pet store.

The couple entered the Petco store around 4:30 p.m. Monday, police told The Salem News on Wednesday.

The man asked an employee if he could play with the albino cinnamon ball python. When the employee said that is against store policy, the man offered to buy it, Capt. Dennis Bonaiuto said.

The employee put the snake in a box and brought it to the register area. When the employee put it on the counter, the man grabbed the box, and he and the woman ran from the store and sped away in a car, Bonaiuto said.

The car was last seen heading toward Danvers, Massachusetts.

“We are aware of and shaken by the theft of a pet snake from our Petco store in Peabody,” a spokeswoman for the retailer said in an email, adding that management is cooperating with authorities.