JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The owner of a Jacksonville exotic pet store says a puppy and a bearded dragon were stolen from his business over the weekend.
Stephen Brezil, owner of Xtreme Exotics, said four people worked together inside the store, watching employees and handling the puppy.
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“They carried the puppy around, which we don’t normally allow,” Brezil said.
He said one person handed the puppy to another member of the group, who carried it out of the store “like he was carrying a football.” The bearded dragon was later discovered missing from one of the store’s cages.
Brezil said he had planned to keep the puppy for his family.
“The whole thing is devastating. I mean, I can’t even believe this happened,” he said.
One of Brezil’s employees later encountered some of the group at a Boba Tea House in St. Augustine. Brezil said the employee saw the puppy in their vehicle and that the group tried to sell it to her. She recorded video and obtained the vehicle’s license plate information.
“At this point we obviously want to get the animals back. We don’t want anything to be hurt,” Brezil said. “We would have appreciated that they would have just been returned, but I want to stop this from happening to anybody else.”
Brezil reported the theft to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office and shared photos and video on social media. JSO declined an interview but confirmed the investigation remains active and ongoing.
News4JAX chose to blur the suspects’ faces because they have not been charged with a crime.
