At about 11:20 a.m., Sheriff Susan Johnson said the Currituck County Sheriff's Office learned four Capuchin monkeys escaped from a residence in the Wedgewood Lakes area. The monkeys' owner told authorities the pets would become vicious if cornered.
About forty minutes later, the Sheriff's Office got a report that a citizen who had been attacked and bitten by the monkeys was on his way to a local hospital.
WAVY's Lauren Compton talked to the man attacked by three Capuchin monkeys. Rick Story said he noticed a monkey in his yard Thursday afternoon. He figured the monkey belonged to someone and tried to find its owner.
"I went outside, opened the door and he came right towards me," said Story. "He was nice, and he squatted down and made this cute little noise."
Story went door to door to find the monkey's owner. He walked behind someone's home and noticed a shed with three other monkeys inside. Then, Story said someone on the property threw him an egg salad sandwich with which to entice the monkey.
"The monkey was on an eight foot fence and I went to give it a piece of the sandwich," said Story. "It took it and acted like it wanted to come to me. It crawled up my arm."
Once back in this yard with the monkey, Story said he saw the monkey's first sign of aggression when a cat came towards them.
"It threw a toolbox at the cat and started growling," said Story.
Then a dog acting aggressively approached Story and the monkey. Story went to feed the dog a piece of the egg salad when three monkeys attacked him.
"One monkey grabbed me right there on my foot. The other walked all the way here and ran up to me. It tried to get to my face," said Story. "The other one grabbed me on my rear end and I was trying not to kick him."
The monkeys chased Story down Beech Street in the Wedgewood Lakes community and back to his front yard.
"I was trying to get away, and they kept coming at me," said Story. "I kept kicking and running. I was scared."
One of the monkeys bit his his thumb, piercing his skin.
WAVY's Lauren Compton tried to talk to the monkey's owner, but he refused a request for an interview.
Story said doctors bandaged up his arm, and ordered $400 worth of vaccines and antibiotics for him. He said the monkey's owners have offered to pay for his medicine and medical expenses.
Johnson said a reverse 911 call was sent out to advise the public in the area to be cautious and report any monkey sightings. Just after that, two of the monkeys were captured and one was tranquilized.
The last monkey was located at about 2:10 p.m., tranquilized and then shot by law enforcement.
Johnson said the dead monkey will be tested for rabies and the other monkeys will remain quarantined and in the custody of Animal Control for ten days.
Moyock elementary and middle schools were notified about the monkeys, but all of them were caught before the schools let out for the day.
(WAVY - Nov 1, 2013)
