Suspect sought in theft of exotic bird from local business

By Doug Spoon, Editor

The owner of Birds-n-Paradise in Menifee is seeking the public’s help in locating the man who stole a valuable exotic bird from the store this week.

Lori Lister said the stolen bird is a 4-month-old macaw worth about $7,000. The bird is still bottle fed and will die without proper care, she said.

The theft occurred Wednesday when a man who had visited the store the day before grabbed the bird and ran while Lister was helping another customer, she said. A witness chased the vehicle, identified as a blue-green Ford Thunderbird, which headed east on Ethanac Road. The suspect is seen at right in surveillance video.

This is the first time the store has been robbed since 2018, when it was robbed twice and was broken into once. Each of those times, help from the community following social media posts played a part in recovery of the birds.

This time, Lister said that despite social media posts and coverage on two local TV stations, “I haven’t had one person come up with a clue.”

Anyone with information on this case is asked to call the Menifee Police Department at 951-723-1500 or contact Lister at 951-893-7650.