Police arrest suspect in Dallas Zoo monkey theft
It is unclear if Mr Irvin is considered a suspect in the other strange incidents at the zoo
The Dallas police have arrested a man they believe may have stolen a pair of emperor tamarin monkeys from the city's zoo.
Davion Irvin, 24, was arrested late on Thursday night and has been charged with six counts of animal cruelty-non-livestock, according to a Dallas Police Department press statement.
“The preliminary investigation and help from the public identified Irvin as the man Dallas Police were looking to speak with regarding the missing monkeys at the Dallas Zoo,” the polic
The monkeys disappeared on Monday and were founds the next day inside the closet of an abandoned home in nearby Lancaster, Texas.
On Tuesday, police released an image of a man in a blue hoodie holding a bag of Doritos who was caught on security footage walking near the monkey enclosure around the time they disappeared. Law enforcement asked for the public’s help identifying the man, who they wanted to talk to regarding the monkeys.
Tipsters reportedly responded, eventually leading the police to an abandoned home in Lancaster — approximately 15 miles from the zoo — where they recovered the stolen monkeys from a closet.
They also received a tip on Thursday that the man in the photo had been spotted near the animal exhibits at the Dallas Aquarium.
Police found him on a DART public transportation train and took him in for questioning. He was later arrested and charged with animal cruelty.
Police also charged him in two other other strange incidents that have occurred at the zoo over the last month.
Earlier in the month, a clouded leopard’s enclosure was cut open, allowing the cat to escape for several hours and prompting a “code blue” at the zoo. The park shut down and police used drones to search surrounding trees for the cat. The situation ended when the leopard was found near its enclosure and returned safely to captivity.
The same day, a cut was found in the enclosure of a group of langur monkeys, though none escaped during the time the hole was open. None of the monkeys escaped.
Mr Irvin hashas been charged with two counts of burglary to a building in connection with the cutting of the fences for the clouded leopard and langur monkeys, Dallas police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said, according to the Associated Press.
A week after that incident, zoo officials found Pin, an engandered vulture, dead in its habitat. After examining the bird, zoo officials said they discovered an “unusual” wound that would not have been the result of a natural incident. Mr Irvin has not been charged with anything relating to the vulture at this time.