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Updated at 4:45 p.m. ET: There is a sad update to a pot bust that included a 5-foot alligator-like creature that was allegedly used by his owner to guard drugs in Castro Valley.
Veterinarians at the Oakland Zoo reported Thursday that Mr. Teeth died overnight.
Dr. Karen Emanuelson said the animal, which looks like an alligator, was actually a dwarf caiman. And when he came to the zoo Tuesday after an unusual drug bust, he was critically ill and non-responsive.
Veterinary staff said they examined Mr. Teeth, took blood samples and determined his prognosis was poor. Emanuelson confirmed Thursday that the animal died sometime in the night, but no one at the zoo would explain or discuss any more. It was not clear why the caiman, thought to be about 16 years old, died, or if guarding drugs at a man's house had any connection to his death.
The odd story of the caiman came to light when Alameda County sheriff's deputies walked into a house earlier this week on the 19000 block of Mount Jasper Drive in Castro Valley to do a routine probation check.
The found the suspect, 32-year-old Assif Mayar, and the drugs and the animal.
Mayar said he acquired the caiman in 1996 to commemorate the death of rapper Tupac Shakur, deputies said.
The caiman was found in a Plexiglas tank in one of the bedrooms and was being used as a deterrent to would-be thieves.
Sgt. J.D. Nelson said when deputies got to the bedroom they found Mr. Teeth "guarding" a 34-pound stash of dried, processed marijuana worth about $100,000."
When NBC Bay Area knocked on the door Wednesday night, the lights at Mayar's home were on and dogs were barking, but no one answered. Neighbors told NBC Bay Area that Mayar and his wife moved into the house about two years ago before their son was born.
Related: Cops respond to shooting, find stripper pole, gators guarding pot plants
A mother of two who didn’t want to be identified said she’d been inside that house before but noticed and heard nothing out of the ordinary. "They’re just family people like us, and she has a little boy, very cute, about 20 months, so of course you wouldn’t suspect or expect anything like this from this neighborhood," she said.
Another neighbor, who also did not want to be named, added: "It doesn’t belong in a neighborhood with little kids, and there are lots of little kids. There’s a school about a block away, and if the thing got out, that could be really dangerous."
Caimans are generally from South and Central America and require a lot of care. They need a heat source, a large pond with extra space, and fresh meat bi-weekly.
Mayar was booked into the Santa Rita Jail in Dublin on drug possession and sales charges. It was not immediately clear if additional animal cruelty charges would be considered.
NBC Bay Area's Stephanie Chuang contributed to this report.
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I can see the EATF and DEA now..
"Grab the pot! Kill the Gator! KILL KILL KILL!!!"
"I think it's a caiman sir, do we really have to shoot it"
"KILL it dammit! KILL!"
"Phew, good job men! We saved many lives today. That pot could have killed millions and that Gator was clearly high. If it was let loose an entire town would have been destroyed."
"Uh... it's a caiman sir"
"Shut up Frank... we rocked it today"
DEA/EATF... two completely corrupt organizations that make the Cartels look legal.
Right on, smuggling guns across the border to Mexico in order to gather hatred against guns, gun owners, the constitution, and bill of rights comes to mind. The libs can scream a lie, that it ain't so all they want, we ALL know better.
he is probably an illegal, and along withs selling drugs, cruelity to animals, he is probable getting the illegal aliens free @!$%#,,,
LMAO! Some of you posting on this story need to READ IT. The caiman DIED so there's really no chance of its return to the suspect. Are you people brain dead or are you just a bunch of silly inbreds?
No Dootiumus, people who posted of the chance of caiman returning to owner were posted before the article was updated. On the top of the article it clearly states "Updated at 4:45 p.m. ET: There is a sad update to a pot bust that included a 5-foot alligator-like creature that was allegedly used by his owner to guard drugs in Castro Valley..." Lesson; do not be quick to be judgemental (and disrespectful to others), you may just find out your passing judgment on yourself!!
Oh you Cali boys are "really funny" Pot fierce,"gator" and did anyone check out that "NAME"??
Wonder what part of the "city" he come from????
Most likely the Valley maybe>
say did anyone see the "rock" crumble???
They should have put Mr. Teeth in their protective costudy, someone overnight may have come to finish him off so that he cannot talk.
poor mr. teeth .... i sure wouldnt mess with him
I bet the neighbors thought they had a skunk problem in the area.
Looks like a tiny dinosuar!
The Veterinarian statement is that, "when he [the caiman] came to the zoo Tuesday.., ... he was critically ill and non-responsive". So, at the time of the video the caiman looks fine, but when it gets to the zoo it is non-responsive. Therefore, the animal must've gotten badly hurt in the process of caging him and transporting it to the zoo. They have to investigate the people in charge, and the methods employed in doing this.
I was thinking the same thing... Something's not adding up here.
Wow.....How very, very sad; both for the Caimans of the World, and for the Poor, Generally Harmless Pot Smokers of the World, who - because a bunch of so-called "Christians" who were engaged in the 'Bible Printing Business', got together in 1912, and defied the Bibles Warnings about how 'changing it's text is the DEVILS WORK', by deciding to CHANGE IT'S TEXT ANYWAY, by changing the TRANSLATION of the Hebrew/Greek/Aramaic Word for CANNIBAFLOWER, from "CANNIBAFLOWER" to "SPICES" - have so often been forced to go to such extremes; risking losing the freedom, their children, their respectability; in order to grow a few plants that would otherwise be no more in need of being 'guarded' - that would otherwise pose no more of a 'risk' to those growing them - than would a Tomato Plant or a few Cabbages would......
Don't even get me - the Chronic Pain Sufferer whose been "put through the ringers" by "War On Drugs Zealots" who're, really, in many cases "Ku Klux Klan and Right Wing Christian Social Fascist Zealots" simply looking to mess with a guy like me for reasons that have more to do with my being a "Jew and N-Word Lover", than they do with anything about "protecting and serving"....... - Don't even get me started on the War On Everything Else, too!
Heavy dude! Could I have a toke?
34 lbs. of dried, processed weed worth about $100,000? LMAO. Not these days Mr. Officer. Maybe if he bagged it into individual dub sacks. Police always overestimate. That 34 lb stash might hav netted him a cool $40K. Maybe.
Yep, Ryan-3964613, post #63.....cops ALWAYS value their busts at the highest street retail value of the smallest portion....so that $100K equals approx $185 per ounce (STILL rather inflated). Methinks it is how they 'keep score' in their illustrious 'War On Drugs', thereby justifying their work.....
Gee, and how did this Cayman die?? He apparently did just fine for 16 years under the ownership of the resident.......but then dies just hours after the cops and zoo personnel got ahold of him. nice And all for the ridiculous War on Drugs! End it NOW! LEGALIZE NOW!!
They coulda atleast brushed his teeth and tongue before the photo op.
i liked the part when he said the gator was bought to commemorate the death of tupac shakur
He's proably a pair of caiman boots today, and the vet is the proud owner!
had it 4 17yrs, they remove it and it dies??? and they might charge him? R THEY F*CKN SERIOUS??
"The found the suspect, 32-year-old Assif Mayar, and the drugs and the animal".
Check your grammer please. The the.
"The found the suspect, 32-year-old Assif Mayar, and the drugs and the animal".
Check your grammer please. The the.
Maybe the writer is indulging a little too.
The owner of this sad alligator should be charged with animal cruelty charges. Or better yet, feed him to some wild alligators down in Florida....
Saturnallia you are kidding, right? The animal lived 15+ years with his owner. The animal lived for a few hours once the law came in.
Lizardzilla died craving Che-Toes!
I am so glad they told everyone! just how to care for a caiman,they should have said we have animal control nothing is going to stand in the way of justice !Yup! they will charge him with all kinds of things drug charges animal cruelty endangering the welfare of a child it will go on and on !plus they will see just what teeth was eating or had eaten?
Now it said in the video, that this dude had 34 lbs of pot, well looked like he was having a good year, Now what is the crime he did to deserve to get messed with, Such a high bond for not doing crimes upon humanty. I would have to class it that the federal gov't is the enemy on this one. To take away a persons life for them not even doing crimes upon humanty. I mean so what if he had pot, Why do they keep this war upon the people forcing them to do to not get locked up or pay major fines. Now where is the real crime at?
Poor croc died of loneliness,he miss he weed.
So let me see if I got this straight. The drug dealer owns and cares for this animal for more than a decade with no problems. The cops and animal control have him for a day and he dies. I for one want to know what really happened. There's more to this story than the cops are saying....
I do agree that there needs to be an investigation into the cause of death of this poor Caymen. Living for 16 yrs. and then dying after the authorities brought it to the zoo, something just doesn't add up
Does anyone else find it odd that people are concerned about a caged dwarf caiman near the school and not the 34 pounds of brain rotting dope near the school?
What an im be cile.