South Hill Monkey Attacks Three, Loses Freedom

SPOKANE – There was no monkeying around on the South Hill on Friday, after Spokane animal control officers responded to an unusual call for help. A macaque monkey, native to Africa and Asia, escaped its owner’s home, biting three neighbors.

“That is something you don’t see in Spokane,” says Scott Battaglia on a home video of the monkey.

When Battaglia’s home on Spokane’s South Hill started to look like South Asia, he rolled his camera.

“It was freaky. He had red eyes,” said eight-year-old Aaron Trujillo.

Aaron was walking his dog with his best friend, Grey, when he spotted the monkey.

“And I was like, what in the heck is a monkey doing here?” Aaron exclaimed.

The pair started to run really, really fast .

“And we were like, running really fast down the sidewalk,” Aaron explained, “and and we were like, ahhhh! It was like, so freaky.”

“I thought it was a joke,” said Dorothy Trujillo, Aaron’s mother, “making it up because they have some imagination.”

So she had to see for herself.

“And I, uh, got a little bit closer, took pictures and it looked like it was going to go back in the house,” says Dorothy, “but then it turned around and charged me.”

It ended up biting her on the leg.

“It really hurt,” she said. “It just kind of grabbed me and wouldn’t let go and it looked pretty bad.”

The monkey bit two others before animal control officer Bryan Townsend showed up to capture him. He’s a pro with dogs, but a monkey? He’s never had that call before.

“As I walked up, the monkey was sitting on the front porch behind the screen door, looking at me,” Townsend says.

With a net in hand, Townsend and two other officers captured the monkey in a net

“That’s one I’ll never forget,” says Townsend.

The monkey, whose name is Chico, is now at Spokanimal. He’s in the dangerous dog section to keep him away from the public. Even though he’s in a cage, he’s enjoying only the finest cusine)

“In the morning time,” Townsend explains, “we feed the monkey pancakes, french toast, bananas, apples and in the afternoon he gets a bag of vegetables.”

Townsend says the owner is providing the food. Chico will stay at Spokanimal for 10 days for quarantine. After that, no one really knows. In Washington, it’s illegal to own a primate.

But the next time Aaron and Grey see a monkey, they hope its at the zoo.

“It was weird,” Aaron says.

“I just didn’t think a monkey would be in the neighborhood,” Grey says.