A 49-year old man entered Perkins Restaurant in Painesville, Ohio on a Tuesday morning and caused chaos, police reported.
Arnold Teeter was loud, unruly and he laid down in a booth before throwing the menu at the restaurant server, which immediately sought the attention of the restaurant’s manager. The manager tried to calm the man down, but to no avail.
Police say Teeter reached under his sweatshirt and drew out a two-foot long iguana and swung it in a circular motion about his head before throwing it at the manager. He missed his target, which sent the poor gecko across the tile floor.
The incident was caught on camera, which showed Teeter picking up the iguana by its tail and left, according to a report by The Washington Post.
Teeter was arrested 30 minutes after the incident outside the local YMCA, where officers saw him walking in an “erratic manner.”
The man claimed “Copper” was his pet, but officers took Copper away from Teeter and sent it to the Lake County Humane Society. A vet said the lizard was suffering from poor body condition, which involves a metabolic bone disease and a leg fracture from the incident, which will require surgery.
Copper was also missing part of her tail.
“We’ve seen a few cases of animal cruelty in the past, but we haven’t seen anything involving an iguana,” Lt. Toby Burgette of the Painesville Police Department told The Washington Post in an interview.
Teeter was charged with disorderly conduct, resisting arrest, and cruelty to animals, and he is under a $10,000 bond.
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