Video captures group of alleged swan thieves stealing bird from park in Howard Beach
HOWARD BEACH, Queens (WABC) -- A bizarre crime caught on camera led to the arrests of a group of suspects accused of removing a swan from a park in Queens and then stuffing the bird into a car.
The viral video shows a young man with swan in his hands, running from the inlet at 165th Avenue and 95th Street in Frank Charles Memorial Park in Howard Beach on Saturday evening.
"They came up this path here and then ran out towards the street," Stephanie Santiago said.
Santiago, a school attendance teacher in Howard Beach, lives nearby, and her daughter recorded the cell video that shows the stolen swan being stuffed into a car.
The teacher even captured the four males laughing as they sped away.
"I yelled at them. I was irate, but I told them that they were going to see me again," Santiago said.
Santiago said she sees the swans sunbathing in her yard every day, and that she believed the swan to be the parent to four cygnets.
"These birds have to be protected. They are federally protected birds," she said.
The New York State Dept. of Environmental Conservation says that mute swans are protected under the law - therefore, swans, as well as their nests and eggs, may not be handled or harmed without authorization from the DEC.
Santiago contacted U.S. Parks officers and shared the video.
Neighbor PJ Marcel saw Santiago's swan-snatching video and posted it to local Facebook group Howard Beach Dads.
"I was beside myself. I was outraged," Marcel told Eyewitness News.
And the community felt similarly: the video "got almost 150,000 views and 2000 shares in less than 16 hours."
Less than 24 hours after the video was posted, NYC Parks worker Frank Kelly spotted the suspects about two miles away at Forest Park.
"I couldn't believe it," Kelly said.
He sent a photo and video to his wife, who forwarded it to Marcel, who sent them to police.
Three of four suspects were apprehended as a result of neighbors banding together to protect wildlife.
Investigators "went in the vehicle with their suits on, and they found all kinds of swan feathers," Kelly said.
Alerting authorities to the supposed thieves "felt great, I ain't gonna lie to you," Kelly said. "It felt good to do good."
One of the suspects arrested is a minor and was released to a guardian, police say.
Charges are pending.
The whereabouts of the missing waterfowl are still unknown.
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