More than 150 reptiles and a dead body found in Aliquippa home
ALIQUIPPA, Pa. (KDKA) — A 911 call for an unresponsive man led to police finding more than 150 reptiles in a home in Aliquippa.
Officials were called Tuesday to the home on McMinn Street. Police said they found a 23-year-old man dead, though it is not clear how he died. More than 150 reptiles, including 60 venomous snakes and an alligator, also were found in the home.
"There was a cobra in there, a rattlesnake in there, black mambas," said Jim Bologna, a code enforcement officer.
Officers also found a 3-year-old girl in a high chair near a venomous snake inside the home. The Office of Children, Youth and Families was called to the scene.
"Nobody should have that many poisonous snakes anywhere," Aliquippa resident Valerie McDermott said. "They should be destroyed."
The child and the four adults in the home from Ohio, Tennessee and Colorado moved in recently. Officials said they came to sell the animals.
"These folks have a business they run," Bologna said. "They sell reptiles, venomous and non-venomous. They just moved here, last two months or so."
The reptiles were moved to an exotic pet store in Ambridge that works with the Beaver County Humane Society.
The people renting the home in Aliquippa are allowed to stay, but they did break the city code and could face fines.
KDKA-TV reached out to the landlord but did not hear back Tuesday.