A teacher in Santa Ana, Calif., was arrested and charged with animal cruelty after police tasked with investigating a foul odor found 400 snakes in his home, almost all of which had been dead for days.
“We thought someone was dead,” said a neighbor who lived next door to the foul-smelling home, in The Los Angeles Times. “We couldn’t open up the bedroom windows. My wife started to gag and throw up.”
Responding police smelled similarly.
It smelled like “death,” said Santa Ana Police Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, in The Los Angeles Times.
Police served a search warrant and arrested William Buchman, 53, for animal cruelty, after finding hundreds of dead and decaying pythons.
Mr.Buchman taught elementary level students at the Newport Beach Mariners Elementary School, The Los Angeles Times reported. Neighbors said he became increasingly reclusive in the years since his mother died.
He already had the reputation in the neighborhood of raising snakes, even before the arrest.
“We called him the rat man,” one said, in the newspaper.
• Cheryl K. Chumley can be reached at cchumley@washingtontimes.com.
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