Man in Cookie Monster Shirt Steals Bodega Kitten, Leaves $1

The owner of a Bronx bodega is searching for a thief wearing a Cookie Monster shirt, although the tasty treat isn’t what he is accused of stealing.

Ismael Diaz, owner of Ismael’s Gourmet Deli in Kingsbridge, said the man walked in, picked up the corner store kitten, left a dollar on the counter and walked out and the crime was all caught on camera.

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“Somebody could steal a soda, steal potato chips, a cake, but a living animal?” Diaz said.

Surveillance video shows a customer, donning the blue Cookie Monster sweatshirt, holding two-month-old Luna in his arms Saturday morning. The video then shows him walking right past an employee and then leaving the store with the family cat.

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Diaz said Luna belongs to his 10-year-old son, which makes the crime that much more painful.

“My son is Autistic, so he’s having to adapt to the fact that somebody stole his cat,” Diaz said. “He’s very upset and very sad. To him that’s his life.”

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Police are now looking to identify the cat-napper from the video. Authorities said he fled the scene in a red Ford Explorer and hasn’t been seen since.

“I just hope that whoever has the cat to bring the cat back,” Diaz said.

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