A shark was stolen from the San Antonio Aquarium, found at aquarists home

[KyleGustafson22]

This is a really ridiculous story, and I thought you all might enjoy it. 

 

(CNN)What began with a quick grab-and-go theft Saturday at the San Antonio Aquarium -- the suspect leaving a trail of water drops as he hurried away with his dripping prize of a small but very much alive shark -- ended Monday with the safe return of "Miss Helen" to her tank at the aquarium.

The 16-inch female horn shark was taken during a heist that aquarium officials said was no spur-of-the-moment, let's-steal-a-shark thing.

"The suspects staked out the pool for more than an hour" to wait for the right moment, the aquarium said in a statement.

The search for the young female shark, known to aquarium staff as Miss Helen, led police Monday to the home of a man who maintains an extensive collection of marine life, according to the police chief of the San Antonio suburb where the aquarium is located.

 

 

"When we got into the garage and into the house it looked like almost a mock up of (the San Antonio Aquarium)," said Leon Valley Police Chief Joseph Salvaggio. "He knew very much what he was doing and kept that animal alive."

The great shark heist

Surveillance video, which the aquarium posted on its Facebook page, caught the heist as it happened. Two men and a woman with a infant wandered through the facility with a baby stroller in tow. The trio is seen on the video hanging around the tank where visitors can feed the fish and reach in the water and pet various sea life.

 

"Miss Helen," a 16-inch horn shark, as she is returned to the San Antonio Aquarium following a theft.

One of the men quickly bends over and pulls something from the tank, using a net that aquarium officials said he'd brought with him. The man then disappears out of camera range with his male companion following him as the woman walks around with the baby.

"After grabbing the shark they entered into one of our filter rooms where they poured (a) bucket of bleach solution that employees used for the disinfection of tools into our cold water exhibit filtration system, causing harm to other wildlife," the aquarium statement said. The men put the shark in the bucket and stashed it on the stroller to make their getaway.

Fast-acting staff, realizing what had happened, were able to prevent the bleach from doing more damage.

And from there, the shark hunt was on.

"When we first got the call, we thought it was kind of a hoax, being that it was Shark Week last week," Police Chief Salvaggio, referring to the Discovery Channel's week of shark-related programming, told CNN affiliate KSAT.

Bringing Miss Helen home

On Monday night, police successfully rescued the shark and returned her to the aquarium. Staff applauded and cheered as Miss Helen made her homecoming.

Police don't believe the shark was taken to sell but to be added to the suspect's collection.

"It was something he wanted, he had one of these in the past," said Salvaggio. "He had one that passed away."

 

Staff members bring the stolen shark back to the San Antonio aqarium.

One man has been charged with theft and charges for two other individuals are pending, according to Salvaggio.

Miss Helen is now being held in quarantine as staff tests the water she was held in and acclimates her back into the aquarium environment.

"I'm so so happy that we got her back and she appears very healthy," Jamie Shank with the San Antonio Aquarium told KSAT as the shark arrived. "I can't believe what she's been through, she's a little fighter. She's a survivor."

 

https://www.cnn.com/2018/07/31/us/shark-stolen-san-antonio-aquarium-trnd/index.html

 

These people are insane!

[KyleGustafson22]

This article has a bit more information and pictures of the shark thieves 

 

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/mbvd/stolen-shark-aquarium-baby-stroller

[madweazl]

Unbelievable.

[AlanM]

Such a crazy story.  Hope his local fish club kicks him out. 8)

[treesprite]

Such a crazy story. Hope his local fish club kicks him out. 8)

Sounds like the kind of person who might believe he is beyond being part of a club.

[KyleGustafson22]

Sounds like the kind of person who might believe he is beyond being part of a club.

I’ll take my stolen sharks, and go start my own aquarium club!

[sen5241b]

Its one thing to steal the shark for your own tank but its vicious and pretty f---ing evil to dump bleach in the system on the way out.  They are facing felony charges. What will happen to the thief's tank while he is in jail?

[KyleGustafson22]

Its one thing to steal the shark for your own tank but its vicious and pretty f---ing evil to dump bleach in the system on the way out.  They are facing felony charges. What will happen to the thief's tank while he is in jail?

The bleaching the aquarium part is insane, they did it as a distraction to get the shark out.

 

And ya know, I would imagine that all of his fish would need to be rescued while they go to jail for awhile...

[treesprite]

The bleaching the aquarium part is insane, they did it as a distraction to get the shark out.

 

And ya know, I would imagine that all of his fish would need to be rescued while they go to jail for awhile...

Im not trying to defend the idiot, but do you think maybe he just thought the liquid in the bucket was just plain water, and it was just convenient to dump it in the system instead of on the floor? It's hard for me to imagine someone with his interest in sea life purposefully harming it. Though either way, he is guilty of animal cruelty in addition to theft.

[KyleGustafson22]

That’s possible, but with them going into a back staff access area to dump it in and stealing the shark from the front touch pool exhibit it still kinda seems intentional.

 

Maybe he doesn’t care about the animals he can’t own?

[sen5241b]

Im not trying to defend the idiot, but do you think maybe he just thought the liquid in the bucket was just plain water, and it was just convenient to dump it in the system instead of on the floor? It's hard for me to imagine someone with his interest in sea life purposefully harming it. Though either way, he is guilty of animal cruelty in addition to theft.

 

That’s possible, but with them going into a back staff access area to dump it in and stealing the shark from the front touch pool exhibit it still kinda seems intentional.

 

Maybe he doesn’t care about the animals he can’t own?

 

 

I would not underestimate the maliciousness of criminals. 

[YHSublime]

Im not trying to defend the idiot, but do you think maybe he just thought the liquid in the bucket was just plain water, and it was just convenient to dump it in the system instead of on the floor? It's hard for me to imagine someone with his interest in sea life purposefully harming it. Though either way, he is guilty of animal cruelty in addition to theft.

 

I'm betting Forrest is correct here. 

 

Pretty sure that they needed a container for the shark, and just dumped the water in out of the bucket so they could use that instead. Sounds like he was trying to set up his own aquarium!