Jeff Jensen was 20 minutes outside of Toledo, Oregon, on his way to buy 800 rodents for the snakes at The Reptile Zone store he owns in Bend when his wife called with the news that would ruin his day.

Someone — perhaps two people — had broken into the store Sunday night. Donning a ski mask, the perpetrator made off with roughly $3,000 worth of animals and cages.

“I was totally shocked and flabbergasted,” said Jensen, 66, who has owned the reptile store on 542 NE Greenwood Ave. for 15 years. “I felt violated.”

The thief stole nonvenomous snakes, a Pacman frog, a Western diamondback rattlesnake, a rat snake named Copper and a rare, all-white blue-eyed leucistic ball python named Casper. Jensen described this python as his “pride and joy,” one he’d bring to local schools and birthday celebrations.

“Any time I did a presentation, Casper was part of the show,” said Jensen, who lives in Redmond.

During the incident, the perpetrator destroyed store cameras and stole two 40-gallon tanks and other cages and enclosures. The thief also tore the air conditioning out of the back window and broke a cage while reaching inside.

Jensen said he believes the thief was familiar with the store. In video footage, he said, the person navigates through the store well, even in the dark.

And Jensen believes more than one person is involved: One section of the footage, he said, shows what appears to be a shoulder of a second person, and Jensen said that the perpetrator alone couldn’t have lifted one of those tanks at that angle.

Now, Jensen is trying to figure out what happened. He is seeking out video footage from surrounding businesses. Recently, the owner of a Salem facility called to tell him that a person had recently reached out to them, wanting to sell diamondback rattlesnakes. It was too coincidental, Jensen said, so he got that person’s phone number and gave it to the police.

“I’m hoping Bend police do their job,” he said.

But already, Jensen said, people across town are trying to support him and the folks at the Reptile Zone. Hundreds of people have called in, many having watched his story on cable news. His posts about the incident on Facebook have been shared more than 1,000 times. On Wednesday, a woman and all her children came into the store not to buy anything, but just to give him a hug.

“It shows how much of a community the reptile world is,” Jensen said of the outpouring of support. “A special breed of people love reptiles, and they congregate here.”

People with information about this incident can call Bend Police or The Reptile Zone at 541-728-0620.