Florida man accused of stealing 18 turtles worth $30,000 from breeder while fixing his fridge

The owner of Turtle Source in southwest Florida first knew something was wrong when his office pet Huncy was missing

A Florida repairman was arrested for stealing $30,000 worth of turtles from a breeder after he was called out to fix a beverage cooler.

Jermaine Wofford, 47, was allegedly spotted on surveillance footage taking up to 18 rare turtles from Turtle Source in Estero, south of Fort Myers.

Owner Marcus Cantos told Wink News he had a “sick, sick feeling” after noticing an office turtle named Huncy was missing. He then realised more than a dozen turtles were missing.

Mr Cantos said he had called the repairman to his store to fix a fridge.

The turtle breeder said he noticed some turtles were missing after the first time Mr Wofford came to the store, but didn’t immediately make the connection.

He checked store cameras, and saw Mr Wofford allegedly removing the turtles.

Mr Wofford claimed he had needed to pick up parts, and when he returned to the store, he was arrested by Lee County Sheriff’s deputies.

“The camera is right up here, not hard to see, and the guy looked right in the camera, and that’s how the sheriff’s department was able to use the facial recognition, and he was just helping himself to all of these,” Mr Cantos told Wink News.

He warned business owners to carefully check the credentials of trade staff.

Lee County Sheriff’s Office deputies were able to recover five of the 18 stolen turtles from a house in Hillsborough County.

Mr Wofford is in custody on a $50,000 bond.