Shark Returned To Aquarium After Three People Stole It In Broad Daylight By Disguising It As A Baby

shark

iStockphoto / superjoseph


If you were on Twitter last night there’s a pretty solid chance you saw someone tweeting about this whodunnit in Texas. Over the weekend, three thieves were captured on a security camera stealing a live Gray Horn Shark from the San Antonio Aquarium by grabbing the shark right out of the tank and hiding it inside of a baby stroller, effectively disguising the shark as a baby.

Police released an image of the three suspects taken from the San Antonio Aquarium’s security footage and then the manhunt was on. The suspects must’ve realized their days were numbered because two of them contacted police to confess and the entire heist unraveled from there. The shark was recovered by police last night and was being processed through their impound lot…Yes, a gray horn shark was being processed by the San Antonio Police impound lot.

Aquarium owner Ammon Covino had this to say (via USA Today):

the suspects entered near the gift shop and walked all the way through the aquarium towards the exhibits near the front entrance. They waited for an employee to turn his back and then grabbed the shark with a net they brought.
After grabbing the shark, the suspects poured out a bleach solution into the aquarium’s water filtration system and used the bucket to help transport the shark in the stroller, according to a press release from the aquarium.
The general manager, Jen Spellman, noticed the stroller leaking water and followed the suspects to their car, according to Covino. She asked to search their vehicle, the suspects fled and aquarium staff gave the license plate number to the police.
Police said the suspects were caught on surveillance video walking out of the aquarium with the shark in the stroller. At least one of the suspects left the property with the shark in a 4-door maroon Chevrolet Silverado truck. (via USA Today)

Leon Valley Police Chief Joseph Salvaggio has this to add:

“[It’s] obviously somebody that knows something about the sharks and knows something about what they were doing and why they were doing it. It’s not random. There is no doubt in my mind this is not a random theft. Once they took [the shark] out, they put it in some kind of blanket and went into a secure area of the building. The blanket was wet. You could still see the water running off it… Employees witnessed the actual fact inside the employee area, and an employee followed them out and tried to get to look into the stroller that was dripping water. [The suspects] didn’t stop, and they left,”

Here’s one elated employee to have ‘Miss Helen’ returned home:

According to USA Today, the shark appeared to be unharmed after being returned to the aquarium on Monday night, and it’s reported that the suspects were trying to sell the shark on Facebook….which seems like one of the craziest details in this story. They didn’t even have a buyer lined up before they stole a LIVE SHARK out of the aquarium. The plan was to just steal the shark in broad daylight and then try to flip it on a public social network? This is even more half-cocked than I ever imagined…At last have a buyer set up ahead of time.