Wheaton, Ill. – Exotic birds worth more than $5,000 that were stolen earlier this week from west suburban pet shops have been recovered, and three people have been charged in connection with the thefts.
Rebecca F. Cozzi, 40, of Berwyn, has been charged with retail theft, according to Bolingbook police.
Erik Zalkus, 31, and Viviana Rossi, 28, both of 3700 Gunderson Ave. in Berwyn, are also charged with retail theft, according to a release from Naperville police.
Charges are pending Thursday against a fourth suspect, a 27-year-old Downers Grove man.
Police from Naperville, Berwyn and Bolingbrook recovered all of the birds reported missing during a search of the Gunderson Avenue home, the release said. They also found other animals believed to have been stolen from pet stores, including four sugar gliders (small mammals), according to police.
All the pets were in good heath and were safely returned to their owners, Naperville police said.
Authorities say animals were taken from pet stores in Bolingbrook, Batavia and Naperville in a series of thefts Monday and Tuesday.
The four suspects were originally questioned after a manager at the Petland store in Wheaton saw them enter and recognized them from surveillance footage from a theft at another store.
Sara Marshinski said she saw the four walk into the store around 2:30 p.m. Wednesday — a day after the thefts in Naperville and Batavia, and after word of the thefts had spread through the pet community.
The first known theft happened about 9 p.m. Monday at Petland-Aquarium Adventure at 744 E. Boughton Rd. in, Bolingbrook, according to Lt. Mike Rompa of the Bolingbrook police. The store’s owners didn’t realize a bird was
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