A New York man is accused of going fishing in a pet store aquarium — catching a $350 shark and smuggling it out under his jacket.
Police say the bizarre shark heist took place Dec. 12 at Total Aquarium in Lynbrook.
The man went up to the tank where the shark was swimming and “just grabbed it and put it into his jacket,” store employee Jared Goldenberg told the New York Post.
“And then he just walked right out. It didn’t take long.”
The Freeport man released the contraband shark into his home aquarium, where he also kept a green moray eel he had purchased for $300 with a stolen credit card from a different pet shop on Jan 2, police said.
Police tracked down the man, a frequent patron of the pet stores, and arrested him Wednesday at his job as a food-service worker in Brooklyn, the Post reported.
The 30-year-old suspect was expected to be arraigned on charges of grand larceny and petit larceny. The fish are being cared for at the pet shop where the eel was purchased.