Monday, September 14, 2009
Last Wednesday night, police say, at least three youngsters loaded their bicycles with pot and bolt cutters and rode into the Palm Beach Zoo.
There, they promptly stole a golf cart and five animals, perhaps sending friends text messages bragging of their adventure.
Then, they locked the four monkeys and a parrot into cages and plastic containers, where they were found Thursday evening, perhaps within minutes of death. The motive? "I believe it was just for the thrill of it," West Palm Beach police Sgt. Patrick Flannery said today. Sean Patrick Harrison, 17, of West Palm Beach, who was turned over to juvenile authorities Friday, is charged with burglary of an unoccupied dwelling and grand theft of a vehicle worth $20,000 to $100,000, according to the report. Police say they are looking into the two alleged accomplices, who are young adults, and perhaps more people, and could soon be making more arrests. Harrison, reached at midday at his home, declined to comment. A tip had led police to a home in the 2500 block of Palmarita Road, near Florida Mango Road, where they found a small shed in the backyard, its windows blacked out and an extension cord leading to it from the house, the report said. Inside in stifling heat, Elsie, a Goeldi's monkey, and Chalupa, a Green-Cheeked Amazon parrot, were found in cages; and squirrel monkeys Simone, Sallie and Dougie in plastic containers, police said.
Zoo spokesman Brian Crowley said today all five animals continue to make speedy recoveries.
According to the police report, Harrison told detectives that about 9 p.m. Wednesday, he and two others made plans to smoke marijuana in Dreher Park and then sneak into the adjacent zoo.
He said they bicycled over, carrying tools in duffel bags, then used bolt cutters to get through a rear gate on the zoo's west side.
Harrison said he got inside and found his two friends, who were trying to capture monkeys. He said they ended up nabbing three and put them in the containers. The teen said he rode his bike back to the home of one of the other two while the others walked home, carrying the animals in cages.
The report said Harrison claimed he never saw the fourth monkey or the parrot, did not know about the animals being stored in the shed, and did not know about the golf cart.
Police Det. Adam Konesey said this morning the vehicle has not been recovered.
According to the report, the initial tip had provided the three names, including Harrison's, and police interviewed another one of the three, who so far has not been charged and whose name was blacked out in the report.
That person told them he'd received several text messages about Harrison and the third person stealing monkeys from the zoo. The person said he'd received other messages that the youths were in the zoo and had taken the animals.
The person said one of the others, not Harrison, called between 10:30 p.m. and 11 p.m., telling him to come see the monkeys at his home.
The person told police he didn't know about the golf cart, the fourth monkey or the parrot, but "provided a lot of specifics about the crime which seemed very suspicious," Konesey wrote in the report.
No comments:
Post a Comment