ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Saturday, August 10, 1996 TAG: 9608120051
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-2 EDITION: METRO
DATELINE: FALLS CHURCH
SOURCE: Associated Press
A Falls Church man was arrested and charged with stealing two of his neighbor's green iguanas and killing them, Fairfax County police said.
Fredis Monjarras, a 24-year-old dishwasher, remained in jail Friday on charges of grand larceny and cruelty to animals. Police say he decapitated one reptile and crushed the head of the other.
Cruelty to animals is a misdemeanor punishable by a year in jail and a $2,500 fine. Grand larceny is a felony that carries a maximum sentence of five years in jail.
Bond for Monjarras was set at $3,500, and a preliminary hearing is scheduled for Sept.10.
Police did not know why Monjarras would have killed the animals.
``There was some indication that [Monjarras] had been drinking, but there was no indication of how much or at what level,'' said Officer Cheryl Watson, a police spokeswoman.
Police said Monjarras took the 4-foot iguanas from a cage in his neighbor's patio area Wednesday evening.
Jorge Rochac, 23, whose family owned the iguanas, found the dead reptiles outside Monjarras's window in the courtyard of the apartment complex where both men live, police said.
Rochac said he noticed the animals - named Oscar and Boku - were missing, and he and his nephew, Mario Rivera, began searching for them.
``I was so shocked when they found [Monjarras], because I used to see him every morning when I was feeding the iguanas,'' said Rochac, a construction worker.
The family got the iguanas when they were young, Rochac said, and kept them outside in a shiny silver cage so they could enjoy the sun.
A third iguana - 6-month-old Corona - was kept in the house and was not attacked, Rochac said.
``The little kids would always come over and play with them,'' he said. ``People around here love them. They would take care of them, so we always thought it was safe to keep them outside.''
Rochac said he misses taking Oscar and Boku swimming in his bathtub or the nearby pool.
``Oscar was a trip,'' he said. ``If he saw you, he'd just stomp on you and walk all over you. Boku was more reserved. She only let me pick her up.''
The most devastating thing about the iguanas' deaths was the cruelty of the killings, Rochac said.
``This was wicked, evil and nasty,'' he said.
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