4 hours ago
3
Wild video shows a monkey in a diaper running loose inside a busy Spirit Halloween store in Texas — where it evaded capture for 30 minutes while swinging from the rafters.
The pet primate broke free from its owner Monday night at the holiday store in Plano, seemingly spooked by a scary moving display — then adding an unexpected fresh scare for shoppers, NBC Dallas Fort Worth reported.
Footage shows the monkey running along the top of shelves, scaling pillars and swinging from the ceiling.
“This was animal kingdom live,” said Arlene Pinkston, who filmed the bizarre spectacle while shopping with her daughters.
“My daughter looked up and she said, ‘What in the world?’ and she’s like, ‘Is that a real monkey?’ and I looked up and said, ‘Well, it’s got a diaper on so I guess it is real,’” Pinkston told the outlet, chuckling.
The monkey apparently got spooked by one of Spirit Halloween’s iconic animatronic decorations and ran from its owner, according to store employee Jimmy Harris.
“It was entertaining,” Harris said. “A lot of people just stood and watched it for like 30 minutes, the whole time, they were like, ‘monkey,’ and we had kids trying to catch it.”
Plano police were called to the scene and reported seeing the monkey “swinging from the rafters wearing a diaper.”
The monkey was finally recaptured once its owner offered it a cookie, cops said. The monkey was not harmed and police said no shoppers were ever in danger.
“Our team responded quickly and contacted local authorities, who arrived promptly on the scene. In a rather unexpected turn, the monkey was safely coaxed with a cookie,” Spirit Halloween spokesperson Lisa Barr said in a statement. “The monkey was tagged with identification, and returned to its owner without incident.”
“We’re grateful to our staff and local responders for handling the situation swiftly and safely. While this is certainly not a typical day at Spirit Halloween, we’re glad it ended on a positive note,” Barr added.
English (US)