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			| ilbegone | 10-29-2009 11:04 AM |  
 Man stole ferret by shoving in pants
 Police: Fla. man stole ferret by shoving in pants
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 Oct. 29, 2009
 
 JACKSONVILLE BEACH, Fla. -- It's one thing for shoplifters to hide plunder in their pants. But a live ferret?
 
 Police say a homeless man in north Florida did just that. And he made it out the door before being challenged.
 
 Thirty-eight-year-old Rodney Bolton is charged with theft over the $129 animal that police say he took from a pet store in Jacksonville Beach.
 
 A 17-year-old witness confronted Bolton in the parking lot and was bitten by the animal after the man allegedly shoved it in the teen's face.
 
 That confrontation makes the ferret a "special weapon" under Florida law. So Bolton also faces battery charges for dangerously wielding the animal.
 
 Calls to the Jacksonville Sheriff's Department to see if Bolton has a lawyer were not answered early Thursday.
 
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