The arrest of a person accused of taking two monkeys from the Dallas Zoo has shed some mild on a mysterious string of occasions there, as police stated they’ve additionally linked him to the escape of a small leopard and a gash within the fence of one other monkey habitat.
What’s nonetheless unclear, police say, is what led him to do it.
Davion Irvin, 24, who was arrested Thursday, has been charged with six counts of animal cruelty and two counts of housebreaking, police stated.
Irvin’s arrest adopted a sighting of him at one other residence for unique animals, The Dallas World Aquarium, the place an worker acknowledged him from information protection of the lacking monkeys.
“We do believe that (Irvin) was looking to commit another crime,” Dallas police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman stated at a Friday information convention.
After the 2 emperor tamarin monkeys — named Bella and Finn — went lacking from their enclosure Monday, police had launched a photograph and video of a person they stated they wished to speak to. Police later stated that man was Irvin.
But any details about a potential motive was nonetheless a part of the continued investigation, Lowman stated.
After getting a tip from the general public, Bella and Finn had been discovered Tuesday within the closet of a vacant home in Lancaster, a Dallas suburb about 15 miles south of the zoo. Their disappearance although, was simply the newest in a string of wierd occasions on the zoo.
On Jan. 13, arriving employees discovered {that a} clouded leopard named Nova was lacking from her cage, and police stated a chopping software had been deliberately used to make a gap in her enclosure. The zoo closed as a seek for her acquired underway, and she or he was discovered later that day close to her habitat.
Zoo employees had additionally discovered an identical tear in an enclosure for langur monkeys, although none acquired out or appeared harmed, police stated.
On Jan. 21, employees arriving on the zoo discovered an endangered lappet-faced vulture named Pin lifeless. Gregg Hudson, the zoo’s president and CEO, referred to as the loss of life “very suspicious” and stated the vulture had “a wound.”
Lowman stated Friday that they’re nonetheless investigating however the loss of life of the vulture has not been linked to Irvin.
“The last month has been an emotional roller coaster for the team here at Dallas Zoo,” Harrison Edell, the zoo’s govt vp for animal care and conservation, stated on the information convention.
Police have stated the six counts of animal cruelty that Irvin faces are linked to taking the emperor tamarin monkeys — three counts for every. Lowman stated one of many housebreaking prices comes from the taking of the emperor tamarin monkeys, whereas the opposite is said to the leopard.
Lowman had stated on the information convention that one of many housebreaking counts was associated to the lower discovered within the langur monkeys’ enclosure, however she later corrected that to say it was associated to the emperor tamarin monkeys. She stated Irvin has been linked to the lower within the langur monkey enclosure, although.
Police stated Friday that they arrested Irvin after receiving a tip that he had been seen close to the animal reveals at The Dallas World Aquarium. Responding officers noticed him boarding the town’s mild rail and later noticed him just a few blocks away, police stated. He was then taken to police headquarters for questioning.
Waylon Tate, an aquarium spokesperson, stated Irvin had stopped an worker to ask questions on an animal, and the worker acknowledged him from the information.
Irvin remained in jail Friday night on $25,000 bond. Jail data didn’t checklist an lawyer to talk on his behalf. Calls to telephone numbers listed for his household weren’t instantly answered.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”
