A Queens man wanted for stealing a rare tortoise finally came out of his shell and surrendered, cops said Tuesday.
Shawn Waters, 36, faces grand larceny and other charges for his role in the July 17 kidnapping of Millennium, a 95-pound African tortoise living in the Alley Pond Environmental Center in Bayside, cops said.
The 17-year-old shelled reptile was returned home safe last week, after he was traded for a musk turtle at a train station in Fairfield, Conn., police sources said. The Connecticut man who made the trade called cops after he saw a news report and realized his new pet was pilfered.
Police are still investigating whether Waters, who has 26 prior arrests, actually committed the herpetological heist or simply swapped the tortoise.
A woman who answered the phone at his East Elmhurst home declined comment Tuesday.
