LEMAY, Mo. – In the 30 years he’s been in business, exotic pet store owner James Brumley has seen his share of would-be thieves. On Wednesday, he caught someone trying to steal a ball python from his store.

“We watched the video. He had tried to cut locks on several cages but couldn’t get through,” Brumley said. “Finally found one he was able to break and got in and out the door. But we have really good video, and we were waiting for the police and low and behold, he came back in the store and wanted to buy a snake and was asking me for a deal on it.”

Brumley says his video cameras recorded the would-be snake thief with a wire cutter, trying to cut open the locks on amphibious displays.

When the suspect returned four hours later, the store owner was ready and police were on their way.

Brumley kept negotiating until authorities arrived and arrested the suspect.

“I just kept negotiating and talking to him until the police arrived and we already had the video ready to hand to them on a flash drive,” he said.

Brumley has been musician Alice Cooper’s snake supplier and handler for concert tours for years. Throughout his store are signs reminding customers that stealing an animal is a felony.

“Most people don’t realize stealing an animal is a felony,” he said. “Or they don’t realize it until they get caught that it’s a felony. And we’ve got signs up explaining it. But I guess they don’t read them or something.”