Thirty-year-old Elbert Starks of Freeport, Long Island, has a problem: He loves sea creatures. He loves them so much, in fact, that he's turned to a life of crime to support his need to be near them. He stole a credit card from one pet store and used it at another, Parrots of the World, to buy a two-foot-long moray eel. (Let's just set aside the confusing question as to why there are eels at a parrot store.) Then, when that wasn't enough, he stole a shark. How does one steal a shark, you might ask? With a diversion (perhaps parrot-related) and a large cooler, perhaps? No. Starks stole the young nurse shark by grabbing it out of its tank and putting. it. in. his. jacket. Somehow, the shark survived, but someone saw him do it and he was eventually busted. But there is a silver lining to this insane and bizarre story: For the first time ever, a moray eel and nurse shark met and fell in love! Look at the photo evidence — and that's only the PG-13 shot!

SHARK-&-AWE HEIST [NYP]