'Get in the trunk': Pennsylvania man arrested in connection with theft of bobcat from local animal farm
- A Pennsylvania man was arrested in connection with the theft of a 22-year-old bobcat from an animal farm.
- Surveillance footage released by police shows a man stealing a North American bobcat from the Pocono Snake and Animal Farm in East Stroudsburg.
A Pennsylvania man was arrested on Friday in connection with the bizarre theft of a bobcat from an animal farm.
A man entered the Pocono Snake and Animal Farm in East Stroudsburg through an unmarked door and walked out carrying a bobcat.
Blanche, the 22-year-old North American bobcat who was kidnapped, could be seen struggling against the man on surveillance footage, WNEP, a local ABC television station, reported.
Footage showed the man wrestling the bobcat into his red Hyundai Elantra, saying, "I don't want to kill you," and "Get in the trunk."
Semyon Levit, 45, was then arrested by police a few hours after the kidnapping, WNEP reported. He received a dozen charges, including burglary, theft, criminal trespassing, animal cruelty, animal neglect, marijuana possession, and drug paraphernalia possession, court records show.
Court records do not show whether Levit has retained an attorney. His next court date is scheduled for February 16.
The Pocono Snake and Animal Farm posted an update on Friday thanking local authorities "who helped trace down the culprit!"
"Blanche is resting comfortably since she was returned to her home with us this afternoon," the animal farm said on Facebook. "Tomorrow the vet will visit to give her what we expect to be a clean bill of health."
In a statement to Insider on Saturday, the animal farm said Blanche was healthy and relatively unfazed by her kidnapping.
"We monitored her during the night and she seems to be doing ok, dealing with some old-age arthritis which she is being treated for, but acting normal otherwise, and surprisingly doesn't seem at all traumatized by her ordeal. She's a trouper," a spokesperson for the animal farm said.