UPDATED @ 12:15 p.m. Tuesday: The pet python that escaped in June will not be returned to its owner, Ferguson Township police Chief Diane Conrad said this afternoon. The owner, if she pleads guilty, will face more than $500 in fines, fees and other costs. Details are in the updated report, below.
———-
Ferguson Township police have filed charges in connection with an escaped-python incident in June, authorities announced Monday evening.
Delores M. Harris, 20, has been charged in summary citations with disorderly conduct and unlawfully allowing an animal to run at large, police said. They said Harris has until Aug. 13 to respond to the charges.
If Harris pleads guilty, according to the citations, she will need to pay $532 in fines, fees and other costs.
On June 21, Harris’ 10-foot pet python was reported missing from her residence on the 1400 block of Linn Street, in the Overlook Heights area, police said. The neighborhood is near the State College borough line.
A couple days later, the snake was found and captured in a yard along Harris Street, less than a block away from its home.
Authorities took it from there to Reptiland, a small zoo near Lewisburg, for what township police Chief Diane Conrad called ‘safe keeping.’
Conrad said Tuesday that the snake will remain at Reptiland and not be returned to Harris. Harris told police that the snake is worth $400, though police have not confirmed that figure, Conrad said.
The snake is a non-venomous constrictor, according to police. They had asked Centre Region residents to keep an eye out and take precautions while the reptile was on the loose. The incident caused ‘public inconvenience, annoyance or alarm,’ according to a citation.
StateCollege.com will post more information in this story as it becomes available. Harris, whose phone number does not appear to be listed, could not be immediately reached for comment.
Earlier coverage: Caught Python Taken To Zoo Near Lewisburg
