Many robbers use a weapon of choice, a tool for the trade so to speak, that gets the job done. There are basic weapons such as guns or knives. There are crude forms of hold-up instruments such as bricks, two-by-fours or pieces of rebar, and then there are the strange weapons.
A Stockton, California, teenager opted for the strange when he allegedly brandished a three-foot snake in a robbery of a local Walgreen’s.
According to police reports, the young man was observed lifting a flashlight from the store, which prompted clerks on staff to approach him.
Upon getting a closer look, the clerks were startled to find that the teenager had the snake wrapped around his arm, and he then proceeded to use the snake in an effort to ward off the store employees.
Said Stockton police officer Pete Smith, “he used the snake in a very aggressive manner to try and fend off their advances.
The snake bandit eventually got away and the police are now on the lookout for a teenager who, they believe, is approximately 17 years old and rides a baby blue BMX bicycle.
Strange snake crimes
In other snake-related news, earlier this week a man was arrested at the Kuala Lumpur Airport in Malaysia for attempting to smuggle a bag full of endangered snakes out of the country.
The man, identified as Anson Wong, had a slew of snakes in his bag including boa constrictors, as well a few turtles.
Boa constrictors are an endangered species and thus illegal to export unless a permit is obtained.
According to National Geographic, Wong has long been known to be a “kingpin in the global wildlife smuggling underworld.”
Said National Geographic writer Bryan Christy, "From the island of Penang, Wong operates one of the world's largest legal reptile supply companies, which he has used in the past as a front to smuggle critically endangered wildlife from Australia, China, Madagascar, New Zealand, South America, and elsewhere. His offerings have included snow leopard pelts, panda bear skins, rhino horn, rare birds, and Komodo dragons."
For his smuggling efforts, Wong faces a possible sentence of six months in jail and a $61,000 fine.
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