Accused zoo thief vows to steal more animals if he is sprung from jail | CPT PPP Coverage

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Davion Irvin, 24, told police he took the stolen monkeys on the local light-rail system before dropping them off at his animal stash house not far from Dallas Zoo, according to court documents

The man arrested for stealing two rare monkeys from the zoo has vowed to steal more animals if he’s sprung from jail, court documents show.

Davion Irvin, 24, allegedly broke into Dallas Zoo, broke into the monkey enclosure and stole two emperor tamarin monkeys – Bella and Finn.

The primates were later found alive in a cupboard in an abandoned house in nearby Lancaster on February 1, following a tip.

According to court documents, Irvin told investigators about his love for animals and said he plans to return to the zoo and take more animals.

He told police he “loved animals”.

He admitted to police he waited until night fell on January 29 before jumping the zoo fence, cutting through the metal mesh of the monkey enclosure and taking the two monkeys, according to the arrest warrant affidavits.

Once he had the monkeys he jumped on the city’s light rail to get to the empty home where he kept the animals.

Inside, as well as the two missing emperor tamarin monkeys, police found four to five cats and 12 pigeons.

According to the arrest documents, Irvin was acting “odd” in the days before the monkey abduction and allegedly asked “obscure questions” about where the monkeys were obtained and what to do if they acted aggressively.

Before the break-in, Irvin had been asked to leave the zoo after being spotted entering a staff-only area. He was followed by a member of staff until he left.

Irvin is currently being held on a $25,000 bond.

It is just the latest turn in the spate of strange occurrences at the zoo.

On January 13, a leopard went missing for several hours before being found on the zoo grounds.

Police have said they believe someone had intentionally damaged the leopard’s habitat.

A similarly “suspicious” tear was made in a monkey enclosure but none went missing.

On January 21 an endangered vulture called Pin at the zoo died under “unusual” circumstances.

A statement from the zoo read: “The circumstances of the death are unusual, and the death does not appear to be from natural causes.

“Given the recent incidents at the Zoo, we alerted the Dallas Police Department.”

Gregg Hudson, the zoo’s president and CEO, called the death “very suspicious” and said the vulture had “a wound”, but declined to give further details.

Irvin has not been connected to these other incidents.

The zoo has added more cameras around the complex and ramped up onsite security patrols.