Suspected East Naples bird snatcher arrested
NORTH NAPLES, Fla. - An eagle-eyed Collier deputy spotted the suspect in the theft of a parrot from an East Naples pet store arrested the 52-year-old Monday.
Sgt. Mark Williamson was on patrol on Shadowlawn Drive near Davis when he saw Timothy Mark Thompson walking on Davis. Williamson realized Thompson resembled the man captured on video stuffing an expensive parrot under his shirt.
Thompson was carrying a white shopping bag when Sgt. Williamson stopped to talk to him at a gas station at the intersection of Davis and Airport-Pulling. Thompson told the detective that there were four puffer fish inside the bag and that he had just come from an aquarium store, Sgt. Williamson said.
“He said, ‘We have over 500 animals where I live,’” Sgt. Williamson recalled. “Then I knew it was him.”
Thompson faces a felony charge for stealing the Jenday Conure parrot valued at $380.
The bird was recovered and returned to the store.
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