Keeper to Be Charged in Theft of 4 Birds
A resident bird keeper at the Wildlife Waystation in Little Tujunga Canyon will be charged with grand theft, accused of stealing four exotic parrots valued at $6,600, authorities said Friday.
Russell Fred Van Horn, 43, was being held in Fresno County Jail Friday on unrelated charges of drunk driving and narcotics possession, said Dennis Bracken, a detective with the Long Beach Police.
Early Tuesday morning, Horn took four macaws from the waystation and sold two of them, worth $800 each, Bracken said. The other birds, a scarlet macaw valued at $3,000 and a blue-and-gold macaw worth $2,000, were found Wednesday when Horn was arrested on suspicion of drunk driving by the California Highway Patrol near Fresno, Bracken said.
The detective said the four birds were part of a group of 68 exotic birds being held at the waystation as evidence in an unrelated bird-theft case.
In that case, a Long Beach couple, Jerry and Sharon Neely, who ran a parrot shop, purportedly stole birds they accepted on consignment by moving from Long Beach to Joshua Tree, Bracken said.
Sharon Neely was arrested Aug. 21 in Joshua Tree and faces six counts of grand theft. Her husband is being sought by authorities, Bracken said.
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