Sanford police release 911 call in monkey escape

SANFORD, Fla. — Newly released 911 calls are painting a clearer picture of the moment when some Sanford residents found a monkey roaming their neighborhood.

The Sanford Police Department said shortly after 8 a.m. Monday, they received a call from a resident in the Hidden Lakes subdivision, reporting that a monkey was eating mail out of a mailbox.

“I need the police,” a neighbor told a 911 dispatcher. “There is a big monkey in the street. It's on top of my car now. It's like a baboon or something.”

911 Call: Monkey spotted in Sanford neighborhood

Photos: New photos show monkey on loose in Sanford

Perhaps in disbelief, the dispatcher asked the caller again what it was he saw in the street. The caller confirmed it was a large monkey.

The dispatcher asked the 911 caller if the monkey was behaving aggressively.

"No, no, no," the man said. "It looks pretty clean and nice, but it's on top of my car!"

Officers said they used a water bottle to distract the monkey from pulling the molding from a patrol car and from trying to hop on them.

The monkey peacefully surrendered at the sight of his owner and returned to his cage at a home on Live Oak Boulevard and Sugar Maple Court.

Zeke's owner, Jeff Jacques, has a permit and is licensed to own the macaque, and won't face charges for the escape.

"He's licensed, and it doesn't look like it was any fault of the owner," said Steve McDaniel, an investigator with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "The monkey just figured out a way through some of the caging that he had. He had the proper caging, the proper gauge wire. It was locked up."

It's not the first time Zeke has concerned neighbors.

In 2012, he escaped his enclosure for four hours. Police said he bit two people while on the run.

Following that escape, Jacques told Channel 9 Zeke ripped open part of his cage to gain his freedom.

"He is a Houdini, extremely strong and getting stronger," Jacques said.

WFTV