STUDIO CITY—A man has been arrested on suspicion of making criminal threats at a sushi restaurant in Studio City.

The suspect tossed a 13-foot python inside the restaurant, causing panic to diners, authorities noted.

The Los Angeles Times reported that Hiroshi Motohashi had just paid a $200 bill after finishing his meal at Iroha Sushi of Tokyo located on the 12900 block of Ventura Boulevard. He was asked to leave after several servers saw him showing a small snake that he had been hiding in his shirt to customers.

“He had a small snake in his pocket and he was showing it to kids and other customers and some of them got scared,” said Sissi Dashdort, an employee at Iroha Sushi of Tokyo told CBS 2 Los Angeles Reporter Andrea Fujii.

Witnesses told CBS2 Los Angeles, Motohashi became irate. He left the establishment and later returned with a large python. Motohashi threw the python into the restaurant and walked out again shortly after 7 p.m.,  according to officials.

According to reports, the python got stuck near a cash register inside the restaurant before being rescued by Animal Control officials. They also confiscated the smaller snake that Motohashi was hiding inside his shirt. He was arrested in 2005 for selling exotic pets without a permit and served 15 months in jail. He later opened the Glass Jungle pet shop in San Diego that is no longer in business.

There were no reports of any injuries during the incident.

By Ryan Dyrud and Donald Roberts