A Long Island lawyer is croaking foul over the loss of beloved albino tree frog, who was snatched from his office this week and released in the wild to an uncertain fate.
A would-be client, Fernando Castro, is charged with petit larceny for the amphibian heist, and a secretary has lawyered up for her role in the purloined pet case.
It all has attorney Thomas Liotti hopping mad.
“Our entire office was devastated by the news,” Liotti said in a statement Friday. “It was an inexplicable act of cruelty.”
Liotti, who’s also a part-time village justice in Westbury, said “Owen” the African frog was a gift from another client over 20 years ago.
Owen became the mascot of Liotti’s Garden City, L.I. office, until Fernando Castro allegedly grabbed him Wednesday after an appointment.
Castro was concerned that Frederick Brewington, his attorney for another matter, was taking too long with his case and sought Liotti’s counsel, according to statements produced by Nassau County detectives.
But Liotti was late for their 5 p.m. meet-up. And that’s when Owen’s fate would change forever.
“I thought he (Liotti) left for the day. I saw a fish bowl with a frog in it. I took the fish bowl with the frog and left the office with it,” Castro said, according to the criminal complaint.
Liotti says that video surveillance showed Castro leaving the Old Country Rd. office with Owen, who is valued at $900.
Castro then leaped over to Brewington’s law office on Peninsula Blvd. in Hempstead, L.I. the same night. And he gave Owen to a receptionist there, according to his police statement.
“I spoke with Tammy the secretary. I informed her that I wanted to make a payment. I also told her I had a gift for Mr. Brewington. I showed her the frog and suggested the frog could replace the fish Mr. Brewington had lost due to it dying,” Castro allegedly told the cops.
But Tammy apparently took Owen to a nearby creek and released him.
The average life expectance of an African albino tree frog between 20 and 30 years, but Owen’s life may be cut short in his new environment.
“I do not really blame Brewington’s office,” Liotti said. “They too felt bad about it, but I think they should have waited and taken more steps to find out who the owner is.”
A receptionist who answered the phone at Barrington’s office declined to answer questions Friday but said “I’m going to forward you request to my lawyer.”
Castro admitted what he did was wrong and apologized, according to police statements. If convicted, he faces up to a year in jail.
