Tortoise Thief Gets Jail Time For Snatching Reptile In Queens

DOUGLASTON, QUEENS – A Queens judge shelled out jail time to an East Elmhurst man who snatched a rare 95-pound turtle from its home at a Douglaston environmental center and tried to pawn it off in a reptile exchange.

Shawn Waters, 37, was sentenced to six months in jail on Thursday for the tortoise-napping of 17-year-old Millennium, whose disappearance from the Alley Pond Environmental Center made waves this summer.

The jail sentence marked the end of a months-long saga that started in July when Walters broke into the environmental center and swiped Millennium from his habitat, Queens District Attorney Richard Brown said. The massive reptile - estimated to be worth thousands - was found in Connecticut a week later, and Waters pled guilty to the crime in December.

"The rare reptile is safely ensconced in his habitat and now the defendant, who admitted to possessing the stolen tortoise, will be confined to Rikers Island for the next six months," Brown said.

Millennium, an African spurred tortoise worth around $2,500, was first discovered missing from Alley Pond on July 16, 2017, when a staff member noticed a hole carved into the back fence near his area, according to the charges.

A Connecticut man had put his musk turtle up for sale on Craigslist around the same time, and said he received a cell phone call from a man - who police later determined was Waters - offering to trade an African spurred tortoise for his turtle and an extra $300, according to the charges. The two made the trade on July 23 in a Fairfield, Connecticut train station, but the man gave the tortoise to detectives the next day after seeing news reports that Millennium had gone missing.

Waters pleaded guilty to fifth-degree criminal possession of stolen property in Queens Criminal Court on Dec. 7.

Lead photo via NYPD