02/09/2023
Davion Irvin
Date: 02/02/2023
Time: 11:39 PM
Personal Information
Arrest Age:24
Gender: Male
Birthdate: 04/05/1998
Charges
#1 cruelty non-lvstk:fail prv/abdn/trnspt/bi/ovwk
#2 cruelty non-lvstk:fail prv/abdn/trnspt/bi/ovwk
#3 cruelty non-lvstk:fail prv/abdn/trnspt/bi/ovwk
#4 cruelty non-lvstk:fail prv/abdn/trnspt/bi/ovwk
#5 cruelty non-lvstk:fail prv/abdn/trnspt/bi/ovwk
A man accused of stealing two monkeys from the Dallas Zoo took them for a ride on mass transit after they were snatched from their habitats last month and told police he "loved animals," records show.
Police have asked Dallas Area Rapid Transit to scour security video for any sightings of Davion Irvin, 24, the man suspected in a string of odd zoo break-ins, DART Vice President Gordon Shattles said.
The monkeys were first noticed missing from their enclosure at the Dallas Zoo on Jan. 30. Irvin has told authorities he took them to Lancaster by riding DART on Jan. 29, according to an affidavit for an arrest warrant from the Dallas Police Department.
"Irvin informed detectives that he loved animals and that he took the monkeys from the Dallas Zoo," the affidavit says.
Irvin told authorities he waited until dark, then hopped the fence on the south side of the zoo, according to the affidavit. Once inside, he said he cut through the monkeys' enclosure and took them, the affidavit says.
Irvin took the train to University of North Texas at Dallas and walked to an empty home where authorities later discovered he was keeping other animals, including a dozen pigeons and several cats, the affidavit says.
The affidavit doesn't say what Irvin did with the monkeys on the train, but Shattles said they may have been in his backpack.
"From what we're hearing in initial reports, they're very timid creatures, which is probably why they stayed concealed inside a backpack easily," Shattles said.
"I don't believe they posed any danger to the public — very small animals and easily concealable in a regular backpack."
Dallas police spokesperson Kristin Lowman declined to comment on the monkeys' alleged ride on the rails.