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Suspects Arrested In $75,000 Lizard Heist

Long Beach Police Department Facebook Page

Adam Barnes General Assignment Reporter
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Two stolen lizards valued together at nearly $75,000 were found Monday and two arrests were made, The Los Angeles Times reported.

The Australian lace monitor lizards that can grow to be over 6 feet long were stolen from JTK Reptiles in Long Beach in November 2019, when 3 people broke into the cages and escaped with the lizards, The Long Beach Police Department said, per the The Los Angeles Times.

“As far as I know, the lizards were A-OK,” said Brandon Fahey, spokesman for the Long Beach Police Department. “We lucked out there.”

Jose Luis Macias Jr., 30, and Kassandra Marie Duenas, 27, were arrested and charged with second-degree robbery, Fahey said, per the report. Both have been released from custody on $50,000 bail, he added.

The suspects “seem to be knowledgeable about lizards and lizard value and lizard selling,” according to Fahey. Animal control recovered and returned the lizards.

The returned lizards are not the only animals making headlines recently.

A 21-year-old lemur named Maki was reported stolen from the San Francisco Zoo Oct. 14. Maki was found on a church playground in a neighboring city about 4 miles south of San Francisco the following day. (RELATED: Stolen Lemur Found On Church Playground Returned To Zoo)

Police said on Oct. 16 that they had arrested 30-year-old Cory McGilloway in connection to the lemur heist, the Associated Press reported.