Man Jailed Over Dallas Zoo Monkey Case Says He Will Do It Again, According To Documents

DALLAS — (AP) — A 24-year-old man has been linked to an unusual illness. A string of crimes kept Dallas Zoo searching for missing animals He told police he fled the two monkeys on the city’s light rail system after kicking them out of their enclosure, according to court records.

Davion Ervin also said that he loves animals and would steal more if he was released from prison.

Irvin, who remained in jail on $25,000 bail on Tuesday, was arrested last week after questioning him about animals at an aquarium in downtown Dallas. increase. Irvine’s attorneys, listed in court records, did not respond to requests for comment.

Irvin told police that on the night of January 29, he waited until dark, jumped the fence into the zoo grounds, cut the wire fence of the enclosure, and With two emperor tamarin monkeys According to the arrest warrant. He then took the city’s light rail and walked to an empty house, where he had animals.

Acting on information from the public, the police found the monkey Named Bella and Finn On January 31, the day after he was found missing, in an empty house in the Dallas suburb of Lancaster, about 24 kilometers south of the zoo. According to the affidavit, the home had multiple cats and pigeons and had not been reported stolen, along with dead bait fish and fish food that disappeared from the zoo’s staff-only area in early January. .

According to police, Irvin has been charged with two of the bizarre incidents at the zoo over the past few weeks and is also linked to another incident. We face 6 animal cruelty cases (3 per monkey). He is also facing robbery charges in connection with the escape of a clouded leopard named Nova. Found missing on January 13th. The zoo was closed after a cut was found in her enclosure and a search was launched. She was found near her habitat later that day.

According to an affidavit, Irvin told investigators he wanted to take Nova with him, but was only able to pet him before he climbed onto the top of the enclosure.

Police say Irvine cutting langur monkey enclosures, Found after Nova went missing, but he has not been charged with it.

In the days before the emperor tamarin monkey was taken away, the man had raised suspicions at the zoo, asking not only about the movement and care of such monkeys, but also about the escaped clouded leopard, the affidavit said. He was also seen entering the staff building near the monkey enclosure.

After the missing monkey was found on January 30, police released photos and videos from the zoo of a man who said he wanted to talk about the missing monkey. The man in the image, whom police later said was Irvin, urged him to provide information leading police to the vacant house where the monkey was found on January 31. A man in the image as a frequent visitor to a vacant house owned by a church.

police Irvin Arrested Thursday He was a few blocks from the Dallas World Aquarium, and an employee recognized him in a news report after asking him about the animals in the aquarium.

Police say they are still investigating, but Irvine is not linked to the suspicious death of an endangered vulture at the zoo in January.

Meanwhile, police in Louisiana said on Tuesday a 61-year-old man was identified in a case where 12 squirrel monkeys went missing on January 29 from the Zoosiana enclosure in Broussard, about 60 miles (96 kilometers) west of Baton Rouge. announced the arrest of a man. Police said the missing monkey has not yet been found.