Spider monkey in tutu escapes home, sending Missouri cops on 'bananas' rescue mission

Mike Stunson, The Charlotte Observer on Jan 6, 2025

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Deputies in Missouri encountered a “bananas” situation when they came face to face with a nearly-naked suspect.

But the suspect — a spider monkey dressed in a tutu — was no match for the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office.

The department said in a Jan. 3 post on Facebook that the spider monkey was staying at a home when it pried open a door and went outside.

Multiple people reported the tiny creature “monkeying around” near an intersection, according to the sheriff.

“The monkey actually kind of came up (to a deputy K-9 handler) and tugged on his pant leg, and so he didn’t really know what to do. He squatted down and was trying to offer some sort of safety,” Public Safety Information Coordinator Grant Bissell told KTVI. “And he said the monkey reached out and grabbed his hands, and he said, ‘OK, I guess we’ll just stand here together until we figure out what to do.”

Pictures show the deputy crouched down and reaching his arms out for the spider monkey wearing a pink tutu.

“After careful negotiations and some coaxing, deputies were able to get close enough to go ‘hands on’ with the subject and bring this bananas situation under control without incident,” the sheriff’s office said.

The monkey was then brought back to its caretaker, according to the department.

Commenters couldn’t help but poke fun at the bizarre encounter.

“Grounded. No bananas for a week!” one person said.

“Cutest little suspect in a tutu,” another commenter said.

Bissell told KTVI authorities are familiar with dealing with primates in Jefferson County, but he still considered the incident a unique one.

“This was not a typical afternoon for deputies on patrol in Jefferson County. But you gotta be ready to handle anything that comes at you,” he said. “Sometimes that’s a monkey.”

Jefferson County is about a 40-mile drive southwest from St. Louis.

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