Baby Alligator Shoplifter On The Loose In Beckley, W. Va. (VIDEO)

WATCH: Man Steals Baby Alligator By Sticking It Under His Shirt

The phrase "See you later, alligator" has never seemed more appropriate than in a West Virginia pet store, where a baby gator was shoplifted.

The gator-napping took place last Tuesday at Pets & Things when an African-American male grabbed a 3-month-old reptile worth $300 from its cage. Then rolled it up in his shirt before snaking out of the place.

"One guy got my mom's attention while the other guy took the gator," employee Anthony Williams explained to The Huffington Post. "

Willams said he was walking some boarding dogs and didn't notice the missing reptile until the next morning.

Luckily, surveillance video caught the robbery and Williams said the alligator shoplifter is a regular customer who already owns a gator.

"We gave the name to the police," Williams said, adding that the theft means the store is currently gator-less. "We usually have two or three, but we have one ordered."

Williams said he and the other employees -- his aunt and mom -- are keeping a closer watch on the store since the reptile robbery, but he doesn't think the gator thief got away clean.

"Baby alligators have sharper teeth than the bigger kind," he said. "He probably was bit, unless he found a way to hold the snout shut."

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