BAKERSFIELD, Calif. -- Two stuffed animals were stolen from the glass display in front of the Buena Vista Museum Wednesday morning.
Why would anyone want to steal a leopard and dingo that had been stuffed by a taxidermist? That question is being asked by employees at the Buena Vista Museum of Natural History Wednesday morning.
Bakersfield police officers said that at about 9 a.m., someone called 911 reporting a break-in at the museum.
The front glass of a display case was shattered and someone stole a wild cat that had been stuffed by a taxidermist.
Officers said 55-year-old Henry Slivers was found two blocks away at the Jack In The Box with a stuffed dingo.
That's where he was arrested in connection with the break-in.
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Raw Interview - Henry Slivers
"I was just bored and decided I wanted to be a cat burglar," Slivers told 23ABC in a jailhouse interview. "So I kicked in the window and tried to steal the lion but it was too heavy, so I stole the cat."
"I took the leopard to my hotel. I then decided I wanted the dingo so I went back and took it. I took it to Jack In The Box because I wanted to have breakfast with it."
23ABC asked Slivers what he was planning on doing with the dingo and he replied, "I was going to take it around town with me."
Slivers told 23ABC he hadn't taken his medicine for over a week.
Slivers also told 23ABC that he hears voices and his old commander tells him what to do.
He said, "In the military they give you a machine gun and tell you to shoot people. When you're done, they send you back to America and you have to try and fit in."
Slivers told 23ABC that he served in the military from 1974 to 1980.
He said he was part of the Army Airborne Assassination Team who served in South America, Central America and Algeria.
Police said after Slivers' arrest, they searched his room at the Bakersfield Hotel on 19 Street and recovered a stuffed African leopard worth $5,000.
23ABC spoke with the hotel manager, Gita Patel, who said she was awoken by Slivers carrying up the leopard to his hotel room. She laughed and said it was extremely strange.
Police still don't know why he would break in to steal these stuffed animals, but the museum is just happy to have them back.
When asked if he would do it again, Slivers said, "If I had the chance, yes."
