$1600 parrot stolen from Brea pet store

BREA, Calif. (KABC) -- Surveillance video has captured the theft of an exotic bird worth $1,600 from a pet store in Brea, and police are hoping the video's release will lead to the two men responsible.

The video shows a man at Omar's Exotic Birds holding the African grey parrot, named Zephyr, at about 1:30 p.m. Saturday. He turns his back, another man walks by and opens the door and the pair quickly walk out. The two men had been walking around the store for about 20 minutes before the theft.

"Before I knew it, there was a commotion over by the counter and they just swooped out the door with the bird in their hands," said Connor Chubbuck, manager of Omar's Exotic Birds.

The store allows customers to hold and play with the birds, who roam free, before they buy them. Zephyr was 5 months old and had already been purchased.

"He actually already had some people that had put a deposit on him and were waiting for him to come home, and he was just about ready," Chubbuck said.

Chubbuck says employees at the store's location in Lake Forest have seen the same men before. He says they left together in a dark blue van.

Brea police hope these clues can lead them to their suspects.

"We would like the public to look at the video closely. If they see either of the two suspects and recognize them, please notify the Brea Police Department," Brea Police Lt. Darrin Devereux said.

While Chubbuck wants the people who did this held accountable, he's more concerned about the well-being of the parrot and returning him to his owners.

"He's not ready to be cut off and he was used to the diet he was eating," Chubbuck said. "It's not good for the bird."

A $1,000 reward was being offered for the safe return of Zephyr.

Anyone with information is asked to call Brea Police Department at (714) 990-7911.