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Man gets deadly cobra via mail
By Jason Kandel
Staff Writer
CANOGA PARK -- A songwriter got a deadly cobra in the mail, but closed the package quickly when he saw the snake's head pop out of the plastic-foam packaging, police reported Monday.
Police said Joseff Calhoun, 30, opened the package about 3 p.m. Friday at his home in the 6900 block of Jumilla Avenue and found inside a 2-foot-long South African blackneck spitting cobra, one of the deadliest snakes in the world.
"Obviously he's got some enemy, but we're going to have to do a lot of work to see who sent him the snake," said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Rick Swanston, a West Valley Division detective supervisor.
"We're checking to see how rare this is. We're trying to figure out where one goes about acquiring one of these snakes."
The person who sent the snake could face attempted murder or an assault with a deadly weapon charges, Swanston said.
Calhoun told police he did not have any enemies and that he didn't know why anyone would send him a snake, Swanston said.
Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann, the Valley Bureau's commander, said Calhoun had received a threatening letter several months ago, but declined to describe the nature of the threat.
"We're treating it as a serious crime report," Bergmann said. "We got some clues. There's the snake. Somebody's got to know where that snake came from."
Calhoun did not return phone calls seeking comment.
A curator of reptiles at the Los Angeles Zoo said the snake appeared to be from 1 to 2 years old and had a serious head wound. He said the snake, which was kept in a garbage can at the Chatsworth animal shelter over the weekend, would be euthanized today and the remains preserved in alcohol for the police investigation.
"They can potentially be fatal to a person if they were to bite them," said Russ Smith, the curator. "They are one of the more dangerous snakes in Africa. Some of the big ones can spray up to a distance of 9 (feet) to 10 feet."
Smith, who has been working at the zoo for 31 years, said he has never seen a case of a deadly cobra being delivered by mail.
"This is a first for me," he said.
Police were recovering postal records to see whether they could trace the snake to its point of origin, dusting the package for fingerprints, and researching the snake's origins on the Internet. It was unclear whether the package had a return address.
It is illegal to mail venomous animals in the United States, said Terri Bouffiou, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Postal Service. And it is illegal in California to own exotic, venomous animals. Under special circumstances, one can acquire a permit from the state Fish and Game Department, Smith said.
But for as little as $65, venomous snakes and other exotic animals can be purchased over the Internet.
"If you have enough money, you can get anything," said John Holmes of the Southwestern Herpetologists Society in Van Nuys.
Bouffiou said there probably was not anything unusual about the package, otherwise the carrier might not have delivered it. Chicks, bait and other animals are delivered to shops across the nation routinely, she said.
Because the package appeared normal, the mail carrier did not report it to his supervisor, Bouffiou said.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~1202280,00.html
By Jason Kandel
Staff Writer
CANOGA PARK -- A songwriter got a deadly cobra in the mail, but closed the package quickly when he saw the snake's head pop out of the plastic-foam packaging, police reported Monday.
Police said Joseff Calhoun, 30, opened the package about 3 p.m. Friday at his home in the 6900 block of Jumilla Avenue and found inside a 2-foot-long South African blackneck spitting cobra, one of the deadliest snakes in the world.
"Obviously he's got some enemy, but we're going to have to do a lot of work to see who sent him the snake," said Los Angeles Police Department Detective Rick Swanston, a West Valley Division detective supervisor.
"We're checking to see how rare this is. We're trying to figure out where one goes about acquiring one of these snakes."
The person who sent the snake could face attempted murder or an assault with a deadly weapon charges, Swanston said.
Calhoun told police he did not have any enemies and that he didn't know why anyone would send him a snake, Swanston said.
Deputy Chief Ronald Bergmann, the Valley Bureau's commander, said Calhoun had received a threatening letter several months ago, but declined to describe the nature of the threat.
"We're treating it as a serious crime report," Bergmann said. "We got some clues. There's the snake. Somebody's got to know where that snake came from."
Calhoun did not return phone calls seeking comment.
A curator of reptiles at the Los Angeles Zoo said the snake appeared to be from 1 to 2 years old and had a serious head wound. He said the snake, which was kept in a garbage can at the Chatsworth animal shelter over the weekend, would be euthanized today and the remains preserved in alcohol for the police investigation.
"They can potentially be fatal to a person if they were to bite them," said Russ Smith, the curator. "They are one of the more dangerous snakes in Africa. Some of the big ones can spray up to a distance of 9 (feet) to 10 feet."
Smith, who has been working at the zoo for 31 years, said he has never seen a case of a deadly cobra being delivered by mail.
"This is a first for me," he said.
Police were recovering postal records to see whether they could trace the snake to its point of origin, dusting the package for fingerprints, and researching the snake's origins on the Internet. It was unclear whether the package had a return address.
It is illegal to mail venomous animals in the United States, said Terri Bouffiou, a spokeswoman with the U.S. Postal Service. And it is illegal in California to own exotic, venomous animals. Under special circumstances, one can acquire a permit from the state Fish and Game Department, Smith said.
But for as little as $65, venomous snakes and other exotic animals can be purchased over the Internet.
"If you have enough money, you can get anything," said John Holmes of the Southwestern Herpetologists Society in Van Nuys.
Bouffiou said there probably was not anything unusual about the package, otherwise the carrier might not have delivered it. Chicks, bait and other animals are delivered to shops across the nation routinely, she said.
Because the package appeared normal, the mail carrier did not report it to his supervisor, Bouffiou said.
http://www.dailynews.com/Stories/0,1413,200~20954~1202280,00.html
