DALLAS — A man was arrested in connection with multiple incidents that have occurred at the Dallas Zoo over the last several weeks, including torn enclosures and stolen animals, officials announced Friday.
Davion Irvin, 24, was booked into the Dallas County jail Thursday night after he was spotted near animal exhibits at the Dallas World Aquarium, according to police. He faces six charges of animal cruelty and a count of burglary in connection with two emperor tamarin monkeys that were taken from their enclosure earlier this week, police said.
He faces an additional burglary charge related to a cut habitat for a clouded leopard, and he is also connected to a cut enclosure for langur monkeys, a police spokeswoman said.
Jail records show Irvin’s bail was set at $25,000. It is unclear if he has an attorney.
The arrest is a major development in the mystery at the Dallas Zoo, which made international headlines with the incidents.
The first major incident was reported Jan. 13 with the disappearance of the clouded leopard named Nova, who was found unharmed hours later. Police said her habitat had been intentionally cut. Zoo officials later discovered torn enclosures for langur monkeys, which were still in their habitat, and then the unusual death of an endangered vulture named Pin.
Nine days after the vulture’s death, the emperor tamarin monkeys were taken off zoo grounds, police said.
A man who identified himself as a family friend — and who was listed as Irvin’s potential relative in public records — told The Dallas Morning News that Irvin was innocent. The man said the picture Dallas police released earlier this week of a person they wanted to interview shows a man with a bag of chips in his hand, “not no monkeys.”
But a police spokeswoman said Irvin confessed to “some of the crimes at the zoo.” She declined to elaborate.
Dallas Zoo President and CEO Gregg Hudson said at a news conference Friday that Irvin has never been an employee or volunteer at the zoo and that he was believed to have gained access to the zoo as a regular visitor.
“It’s been a unbelievable three weeks for all of us here at the zoo,” Hudson said. “It’s unprecedented what’s happened here, and we’re truly thankful to a lot of folks that have helped us and assisted us.”
“We’re determined to make sure we do everything we can to not let this happen again,” he added.
Police spokeswoman Kristin Lowman said detectives believe Irvin was going to commit another crime when he was seen at the Dallas World Aquarium.
She said the investigation into the death of the vulture at the zoo was ongoing.
“Detectives obviously have been building the case, talking with witnesses,” Lowman said. “They have spoken with him, but all of that is part of the ongoing investigation.”
Affidavit details ‘obscure questions’
The two monkeys, Bella and Finn, were unaccounted for in their habitat Monday morning, according to zoo officials, who said it was immediately “clear the habitat had been intentionally compromised.” Police said their habitat had been cut.
According to an arrest-warrant affidavit obtained Friday by The News, the monkeys were seen in their enclosure by a zookeeper about 4:45 p.m. Sunday. The next day, another zookeeper discovered the fencing surrounding the monkeys’ enclosure had been cut and that an “unknown suspect” had walked into the exhibit through an unlocked door, police wrote in the affidavit.
When police arrived, the affidavit says, they found the metal mesh that made up most of the enclosure’s door was “cut and bent in a manner and size for a person to both reach into and/or gain access to” the enclosure.
There were no other signs of entry, no cameras that would have captured the break-in, and no key was “needed to enter the general area,” according to the affidavit.
Police said it was also “brought to light” that in early January, there were unreported thefts of “feeder fish, water chemicals, fish flake food and training supplies” that were located in the staff-only area of the otter exhibit, according to the affidavit.
A detective was told that in the days leading up to when the monkeys were taken, a man — later identified as Irvin — was asking questions about animals at the zoo, including the emperor tamarins and the “status and location” of the clouded leopard, according to the affidavit.
Irvin asked general questions about animals, but also “obscure questions such as practices in housing and moving of animals” — and specifically asked how to care for the emperor tamarin monkeys, the affidavit says. Irvin was seen entering nonpublic areas around the monkeys’ enclosure, and looked through windows into areas not accessible to the public, the affidavit says.
The Dallas Zoo security director supplied police with multiple images of Irvin. Police on Tuesday shared surveillance images of a man and asked for the public’s help in identifying him, saying he was believed to have information about the monkeys. The department said detectives were looking to speak with him and said “he is not a person of interest currently.”
Police identified Irvin with facial recognition programs and additional “workups” by the DPD intelligence center, according to the affidavit. Police also received a tip about multiple people seeing the suspect at a vacant house in Lancaster on Gerry Way Street, where the monkeys were later found, the affidavit says.
The family that owns the community house — and runs the church next door — previously told The News that they tipped off Dallas police after the department released the image of the man believed to have information about the monkeys.
Tonya Thomas, whose father is the pastor of the Family Center Church of God in Christ in Lancaster, said her family suspected unusual activity at the house since just before Christmas. She said there had been a break-in at the house in the recent past, and that animals were also found inside previously.
The house, in the 2500 block of Gerry Way Street just south of Wintergreen Road, is about 20 minutes from the Dallas Zoo.
The family suspected the first break-in may have been someone who had been in the area and visited the church before. Thomas said the man they suspected appeared to be the person in the DPD’s photo.
After the family’s tip, Dallas and Lancaster officers responded to the house on Gerry Way Street and said the door was found unsecured and open, the affidavit says. Police found the two missing emperor tamarin monkeys, as well as multiple cats and pigeons, inside the home, according to the affidavit.
Police described the home to be in “extreme poor condition” with suspected cat feces, building material debris, mold and/or mildew and dead animals, the affidavit said. In the specific area where the monkeys were found, police said there were bird feces and feathers, along with wet, moldy pieces of clothing.
They also found the items that were stolen from the zoo’s otter exhibit, according to the affidavit.
A witness, who identified Irvin for police, told police he saw Irvin “frequenting” the home. When police showed Irvin’s family a photo of him, they said “the image looked like” Irvin but declined to positively identify him, the affidavit says.
Zoo staff told police they believed the questions asked by Irvin were “outside the normal realm of questioning” and said they had previously advised their colleagues about Irvin before the monkeys were taken, according to the affidavit.
The arrest
Police found Irvin after officers received a tip Thursday that a man wearing the “same style and color clothing” as the person in a photo DPD had released earlier in the week was seen at the aquarium, according to the affidavit.
The officers saw Irvin get onto a DART rail, later spotted him in the 1400 block of Pacific Avenue and then took him to police headquarters for questioning, police said.
Waylon Tate, a spokesman for the aquarium, said Irvin stopped an employee to ask questions about one of their animals, and the employee “immediately recognized” him from news coverage of the incident involving the two monkeys.
“The employee swiftly notified local authorities, and Mr. Irvin was later apprehended outside of and away from our facility,” Tate said. “There were no disruptions to our operations or guests’ experiences during or after the interaction at the Dallas World Aquarium, and our staff will continue to cooperate with authorities regarding this matter.”
Police said Irvin may face further charges as the investigation into the incidents at the zoo continues.
The zoo said after the monkeys were found that they showed no signs of injury.
Zoo security
Harrison Edell, the zoo’s executive vice president for animal care and conservation, said Friday that staff remains on high alert following the “emotional rollercoaster” of the last several weeks.
He said Nova, the clouded leopard, has settled back into her routine with her sister, Luna; the langur monkeys, which are between 20 to 30 years old, are “doing fine and spry despite old age”; and the emperor tamarin monkeys have regained their weight and are continuing to be cared for in a quarantine setup at the hospital.
As the zoo continues to monitor those animals, Edell said, staff also continues to grieve for Pin the vulture. About 2,000 animals call the zoo home, Edell said, adding that the relationships staff build with them are profound.
“These aren’t just miscellaneous, anonymous animals,” he said. “They’re as much a part of Dallas Zoo family as any of the staff.”
Hudson, the Dallas Zoo president and CEO, said the zoo plans to continue to add more security cameras. He said officials are evaluating internal security policies and will bring in outside experts because of the “heightened intensity” of the crimes. Zoo officials previously said they planned to add additional fence lines, more than double security patrols and increase the overnight staff presence.
“It’s critical for us to do everything that we can to not have this happen again, but also to share this with others in the zoo community as well,” Hudson said. “This institution has gone through many things that we’ve shared with other institutions that have been helpful in raising the standards for zoos and aquariums across the country.”
