ST. PETERSBURG, Fla. — Joshua McCarty-Thomas, age 46, was taken into custody by St. Petersburg detectives today on charges of stealing valuable books and rare reptiles.
During the course of serving a search warrant at the residence of McCarty-Thomas, located at 2435 10th Street South in St. Petersburg, Florida, detectives discovered two extremely rare tortoises.
One was still alive and was found in the backyard, while the other had already died and was found in the freezer. According to the police, this incident is expected to remain active for a number of hours.
On November 30, 2022, McCarty-Thomas is accused of stealing endangered Galapagos Tortoises from the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park located in St. Augustine, Florida. This charge stems from an incident that occurred on that date.
The chips on the tortoises were confirmed by FWC officials to be the same ones that were taken in November. It is estimated that each of the baby tortoises is worth around $10,000. When fully matured, these enormous reptiles can weigh up to 600 pounds and live for up to 150 years.
The matter is being handled by the St. Augustine Police Department as the charging agency.
- Additionally, McCarty-Thomas is facing charges in connection with two separate business burglaries that occurred in St. Petersburg:
- On December 16th, 2022, rare books with a combined value of thousands of dollars were taken from Haslam’s Book Store, which was located at 2025 Central Avenue.
- Theft of rare books with a combined value of thousands of dollars on October 15, 2019, from Lighthouse Books located at 1735 1st Avenue North.
- Additionally, an arrest warrant has been issued for him in connection with the burglary of a business in Ocala, which resulted in the theft of priceless comic books worth tens of thousands of dollars.
According to the authorities, more investigations are ongoing.
