Jenny, a 55-year-old gorilla at the Dallas Zoo, celebrates her birthday with a cake made out of frozen fruit, nuts, yogurt and ice Thursday, May 8, 2008, in Dallas, Texas. Jenny is the oldest captive gorilla in the world, according to Zoo records. She was brought to the zoo at the age of four in 1957. (Photo by Brandon Wade/Fort Worth Star-Telegram/Tribune News Service via Getty Images)
A man accused of stealing monkeys from the Dallas Zoo has been arrested, allegedly while lurking in the aquarium, possibly to case out his next animal thievery.
On Tuesday, Davion Irvin, who by then had been identified as a person on interest in the monkey heist, was eventually caught at the Dallas Aquarium, the police department told the New York Post Friday.
“A gentleman who would later be identified as Davion Dwight Irvin stopped an employee of the Dallas World Aquarium to ask questions regarding one of our animals,” an aquarium spokesman told The Post.
The spokesperson went on to say that “the employee immediately recognized Mr. Irvin from prior reporting on the incident involving the suspected theft of two emperor tamarin monkeys from the Dallas Zoo.”
The employee rushed to call the police, but by the time officers arrived, the 24-year-old had already left and headed towards a light rail train.
He was later arrested in Downtown Dallas, the outlet reports.
Meanwhile, Irvin has been charged with six counts of animal cruelty for kidnapping the small, white-bearded monkeys.
The animals were safely recovered earlier this week from their cages at located at an abandoned home in Lancaster a day after the theft, according to the zoo.
It remains unclear if Irvin is similarly responsible for several other strange occurrences at the zoo, which includes the death of an endangered vulture.
Zoo personnel located the bird, named Pin, on January 21 after his enclosure had been broke into.
“I’ve been in the zoo profession over 30-plus years, and never had a situation like what happened Saturday. It’s unprecedented and very disturbing,” zoo president Gregg Hudson said of the incident.
The animal refuge had even offered a $10,000 reward for any information leading to Pin’s demise. That figure eventually ballooned to $25,000 after the monkeys were kidnapped from the zoo.
Sometime before the bird’s death, a leopard was seen outside of its habitat. Zoo officials say someone cut the enclosure on purpose for a clouded leopard name Nova.
“The investigation into all cases at the zoo is ongoing and further charges are possible,” the cops said.
Irvin was booked into Dallas County Jail.
