A man allegedly stole a rescue kitten at a Maryland pet store and moments later attempted to rob a nearby bank using the tiny feline as an unexpected prop.
A man allegedly stole a rescue kitten at a Maryland pet store and moments later attempted to rob a nearby bank using the tiny feline as an unexpected prop. The bizarre incident unfolded at Pet Supplies Plus on Baltimore Avenue in Beltsville, where surveillance footage captured a man wearing a light-coloured T-shirt and a black beanie entering the store before rushing out seconds later with a three-month-old black-and-white kitten named Magnolia in his arms.
Witnesses said the suspect sprinted straight to a PNC Bank located in the same shopping complex, setting off a swift police response. Stephanie Stullich of Beltsville Community Cats rescue received a call from a distressed store employee around 10:30 am, informing her that someone had used a nearby key to unlock the cat adoption enclosure and steal Magnolia.
Rushing to the scene, Stullich was stunned by the heavy police presence.
“Immediately saw all of these police cars, and I thought, ‘Wow, that’s a heck of a response for a stolen cat,’ but then I realized they all were going down to the bank,” she said. “[…] They came back out a few minutes later and said, ‘Yes, there is a cat inside the bank.’ Apparently he went into the bank with the cat in his arms, and he walked up to a bank employee and said, ‘Can you hold this?’ And then he wrote a note and handed it to a bank teller and it said, essentially, give me all your cash.”
Prince George’s County Police confirmed that officers arrested the suspect inside the bank within minutes. Thankfully, Magnolia emerged from the ordeal completely unharmed.
Pet store employees revealed the man had been visiting the shop almost every day for the past two weeks, repeatedly heading straight for the kitten.
“Came in and saw that none of my team was nearby the front, and he just went right to her and ran right on out,” said Aaron Kurkowski, the store manager.
Despite her extraordinary brush with crime, Magnolia is once again waiting for a forever home.
“She is looking for a law-abiding citizen with a lot of love in their heart,” Stullich said.