Three charged with felonies in string of bird thefts

Four people have been arrested in connection with a series of exotic bird thefts, Naperville police said Thursday.

A man and two women have been charged with felony theft while a second man is awaiting charges, authorities said.

All the birds reported stolen over the past several days were recovered and returned to their rightful owners after police executed a search warrant at the Berwyn home of two of the suspects.

Erik A. Zalkus, 31, of Berwyn; Viviana B. Rossi, 28, of Berwyn; and Rebecca F. Cozzi, 40, of Downers Grove all have been charged in connection with the thefts. Will County authorities have yet to charge a second man believed to be part of the scheme.

Rare and expensive birds began disappearing from pet stores in Batavia, Naperville and Bolingbrook on Monday, and shop owners noticed similarities in the string of thefts. Each store reported a similar group of four people picking up birds and distracting workers before the thefts.

"Obviously this is a ring. They are all connected, this group," Bolingbrook police Lt. Mike Rompa said.

The owner of the Naperville Petland store sent an e-mail to area colleagues warning them to be on the lookout for a group of two men and two women between the ages of 20 to 30 who might be responsible for stealing a $3,300 rose-breasted cockatoo from the store Tuesday night.

Wheaton Petland workers called police to that store about 2 p.m. Wednesday after recognizing the group, and four people were detained, Wheaton Deputy Chief Tom Meloni said.

Police said the four were wearing the same clothes Wednesday in Wheaton that were seen in surveillance video footage taken during the Naperville bird heist from the day before.

Naperville detectives reported that some of the suspects said they were stealing the birds "for the rush."

Sally Hauck, owner of Bird is the Word in Batavia, said she was working alone at her shop on Tuesday night when a group of four people came in about 6 p.m. She said the group distracted her while they stole two birds - a white-bellied caique and a green-cheeked conure valued at $1,300 and $350 respectively.

"I was here and they were all over the store," Hauck said. "The two guys kept me busy doing stupid things. They were going into rooms they were not authorized for, taking birds out of cages that should not have been out."

Hauck said the two men kept her in the backroom while the women were in the front of the shop taking the birds.

Janet Star, owner of Petland and Aquarium Adventure in Bolingbrook, said a group of three people came into her shop about 9 p.m. Monday night and made off with a rare blue Quaker parrot, which retails for around $500.

"They knew what they were doing," Star said. "There were several other birds ... and they picked the most expensive one."

Star said she thinks the group settled for the second-most expensive bird because an employee would not leave their side while they were holding the shop's most expensive one.

Zalkus and Rossi are being held Thursday at the DuPage County jail in Wheaton. Zalkus is being held in lieu of an $80,000 bond and Rossi's bond was set at $50,000. Cozzi is being held at the Will County jail in Joliet awaiting a bond hearing.