Pet-store employee accused of embezzling $2,600 in reptiles

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RIVERSIDE, Calif. -- A woman was arrested on suspicion of stealing more than $2,000 worth of reptiles from a pet store.Veronica Aurora Sierra, 19, who worked at Strickly Reptiles, was arrested Tuesday on suspicion of burglary and embezzlement, accused of stealing 27 snakes, lizards and tortoises and a spider from the store between October and December, according to a Riverside police report.Sierra was booked at a detention center after police said she confessed to stealing $2,600 worth of reptiles. She was released Tuesday.A store manager suspected the woman of stealing the critters when the business closed at night and then selling them to other area pet stores, police said.Store owner Shannon Beasock said she thought the animals were stolen by an employee after she found open cages and some reptiles were reported dead the next day. Dead animals are supposed to be frozen, according to the business' policy, but instead they were reported thrown out.A Norco reptile store contacted Beasock after unknowingly buying the reptiles, Beasock said. She said she had heard rumors for months and when she questioned Sierra, the employee denied involvement but did not show up for work the next day.Among the missing were two baby jungle carpet pythons, 12 baby bearded dragon lizards, four baby Greek tortoises, two baby sulcata tortoises, one regular red tail boa constrictor, one hypo red tail boa, two baby corn snakes, three crested geckos and one Mexican red knee tarantula. The store plans to add security cameras and covers to all open pens, Beasock said. She estimates that about 100 other animals were stolen by someone else, costing her up to an additional $6,000."We're putting the word out on the streets that we're not an easy target," Beasock said. "We won't be an easy target and thieves won't think to come to us."Beasock said reptile merchants are in a growing business that has a high demand for the exotic animals."There's a big market for reptiles, sometimes among dishonest employees and dishonest customers. They're drawn to each other," Beasock said. "They're increasingly popular as easy animals for everyone from bikers to businessmen."(Reach John Asbury at jasbury(at)PE.com.)(Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)