Florida Fish and Wildlife officers went the Deland home of Arneek Wright on a report that he was keeping snakes without a permit. Instead they found an alligator snapping turtle, a protected species.
Two FWC officers found snakes, lizards and turtles and about ten pythons in a closet, none of which require a permit to keep as a pet -- but the snapping turtle was a different story.
When the officers returned to their truck to get some equipment, they were locked out of the home and Wright, 43, refused to let them back in.
In fact, he denied that the turtle was still in the home.
A landlord living next door let the officers back into the home, but the turtle was missing until Wright confessed that he placed it in a washing machine underneath some dirty laundry.
Once he came clean, Wright was charged with tampering with physical evidence, failure to provide a basking platform for the turtles he possessed and will also be charged with possession of a protected species without a permit.
He was booked into the Volusia County jail.
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