Dude, Where's My Snake?

Teen takes off with snakes and eggs

You can get in big trouble if you handle a man's snake without asking first.

Sidney Waltz, 19, found that out the hard way. The Lake Eliza man was arrested after he allegedly stole another man's snakes and about seven snake eggs, reports nwitimes.com.

At about noon on Saturday, Waltz stole a 6-foot Colombian boa constrictor, a 3 ½-foot Hog Island boa, and seven or eight eggs from Valparaiso resident Kirk Leaton, police said.

Waltz first tried to deny the crime, police said, but after witnesses identified the snakes (from a line-up?) in his car as Leaton's, Waltz admitted he took them because "he thought Leaton had obtained them through theft," according to nwitimes.com.

See officer, he's just being a responsible citizen.

Then Waltz said he took them because Leaton never gave him the snake he had promised, police said.

See officer, he's just being a responsible, take-what-I'm-owed-by-force citizen.

Leaton explained to police that he was waiting for the eggs to hatch before he gave a snake to Waltz, reports nwitimes.com.

Waltz, who had also reportedly threatened Leaton, was charged with theft and intimidation. He faces up to six years in prison.

Matt Bartosik is a Chicago native and a social media sovereign.

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