Mick Swasko and Michelle Manchir, TribLocal reporters
Several birds were stolen from west suburban pet shops Monday and Tuesday, and police and shop owners believe the crimes are connected.
A string of bird thefts appears to have started around 9 p.m. Monday in Bolingbrook, where Petland & Aquarium Adventure, 744 E. Boughton Road owner Janet Star said three individuals entered the store and put a Blue Quaker Parrot into a purse and left. She said surveillance video captured the suspects and she believes they may be connected to other area bird thefts.
Bolingbrook police say the store’s video surveillance camera showed a woman removing the $500 bird from a petting cage and putting it in her purse. Store owners realized it was missing this afternoon, said Bolingbrook Police Lt. Mike Rompa.
The woman in the store’s surveillance video was wearing shorts, a dark top and had blond hair pulled back in a ponytail. Rompa said there are “very strong similarities” in the video and photos from the other stores that match this suspect.
A rare Rose Breasted Cockatoo named Joey was taken from a Petland in Naperville at 8:20 p.m. Tuesday. The bird valued at $3,300 was on display before it went missing, Petland owner Adam Stachowiak said. Two men and two women in their 20s or 30s were captured in surveillance video leaving the store before employees discovered the birds were missing, Stachowiak said.
Two other young birds, a White Bellied Caique and a Green Cheek Conures, were taken around 6 p.m. Tuesday from Bird is the Word in Batavia, according to a news release. Two men and two women, all described as 20 to 30 years old, appeared to be involved, Batavia police said. The birds are valued at $1,650.
“The babies they took from us were still hand feeding. They’ll probably die.
By now it could be too late,” said Bird is the Word owner Sally Haugk. Haugk was in the store at the time of the theft and believes the suspects are the same people captured in surveillance video from Naperville’s Petland.
Batavia police said two people distracted the shop owners, and shortly afterward, the birds were discovered missing. The theft was then reported to police.
Stachowiak said Joey is the most valuable bird he has ever had in the store.
“This bird was especially social and very, very friendly,” Stachowiak said. “It was pretty much everyone’s favorite bird.”
mswasko@tribune.com
mmanchir@tribune.com
