Caught On Video: Pet Shop's Mascot Iguana Stolen
PARAMOUNT (CBSLA.com) — Authorities are looking to security camera footage in hopes of finding a man suspected of stealing an iguana from a pet store.
The 3-foot female iguana named Godzilla was stolen Monday from the shop in the 8000 block of Rosecrans Avenue in Paramount.
Security cameras first caught the thief Monday visiting a market next door, then before he walks outside, seeing the iguana in a fenced courtyard and bending down to pick her up.
"She actually puts up a fight," the iguana's owner Holly Cepeda said. "She scratches him, she whips him, and he still picks her up and takes her."
After carrying the iguana to his car, the man then goes inside another business to buy a T-shirt before eventually driving away in his Dodge Charger.
"She's worth a lot more than what he could get for her," Cepeda said. "It's sentimental value, and that's priceless."
Godzilla's owners say she often roams the courtyard outside the store to greet customers and that the store considers the 7-year-old reptile its official mascot, with her own Instagram page.
"I'm pretty sure she misses us as much as we miss her," Cepeda said. "I just want her back."
A theft report has been filed with the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department.
The store owners say Godzilla needs special care, and they're hoping that someone comes forward with information that will return her safely to the store.