SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - Police arrested a woman who was caught on surveillance stealing a marmoset monkey and exotic marine life from three different pet stores.
Milena Wood, 53, was arrested on Monday evening and charged with three counts of grand theft with a total bond of $15,000.
After seeing her face on the news on Friday for stealing the monkey, two aquarium shops contacted 7News and sent over surveillance footage videos of her snatching expensive sealife just a few weeks before.
“It’s crazy, I don’t know how she did it,” said Robert Dusendang, an employee at Exotic Aquariums on 7399 Bird Road.
The store reported that the crook took off with $3,000 worth of corals on June 27.
“On camera, you can see her sticking her hand in the tanks and she puts them in a bag and then in that bag we believe she has like a tote with water in it and that’s where she carries the corals,” said Dusendang.
About a mile away that same day, she hit Strictly Fish on 8373 Southwest 40th Street where video showed her reaching into tanks stealing more sea creatures for her collection.
The thief first made the news after stealing a two-ounce, 5-week-old marmoset monkey named Pepe last week, from Robert’s Pet Shop along Packing House Road.
“We see her coming over, grabbing, tucking the monkey and just walking straight out the front door,” said the store’s owner, Lazaro Sardinas.
Sardinas said he’s glad Wood is off the streets but has not been contacted yet about the well-being of the monkey.
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