Crime Blotter | Featured Stories

By Radio Apprentice |

Florida Man nicknamed ‘Redbeard’ kidnaps ‘Piper’, roommate’s parrot

Puerto Rico Parrot Progress
In this photo taken Thursday June 23, 2011, a Puerto Rican parrot is pictured inside a fly cage at El Yunque National Forest protected habitat in Luquillo, Puerto Rico. The parrots are one of about 34 Amazon parrots’ species found in the Americas. They are known for the bright red shock of feathers at their forehead, white rings around their eyes and the shimmering blue feathers under their wings. The Puerto Rican parrot has hovered at the edge of extinction for decades but is now making a bit of a comeback. (AP Photo/Ricardo Arduengo)

(SUMMERLAND KEY, FL) – Peter Piper picked a peck, but a Florida Man pecked Piper.

Justin Peters of Summerland Key, known notoriously as ‘Redbeard’, is accused of kidnapping a $1,800 parrot named Piper, and leaving it injured at a bus stop, according to authorities.

Peters was arrested Tuesday after snatching the bird from a 37-year-old woman in June. He is charged with grand theft and animal cruelty, states the Monroe County Sheriff’s Office.

The owner of Piper told law enforcement that Peter babysat the parrot, and instructed him to not let the bird out of its cage. After she discovered Piper had been stolen, she notified police on June 14.

According to sources, a witness informed police that he discovered the bird alone on a bench at a bus stop, left behind by a man identified as Peters.

The witness grasped the parrot, informed authorities, and attempted to locate the owner.

The bird-snatcher was identified as Peters in surveillance footage, and he was arrested Tuesday.

Piper was safely returned home, but left with ‘3 broken ribs, a broken clavicle, and hip damage,’ according to the parrot’s GoFundMe page.

The fund has since raised $631 of their $3,000 goal.

Staff Writer, Julianna Caban, contributed to this story.