No monkey business allowed.
California police were treated to a surprise Monday night when they pulled over a Rolls-Royce in a suspected DUI case and discovered a dealer’s amount of weed and a spider monkey in the front seat.
Ali Mused Adel Mohamed, 27, was busted in his 2022 Rolls-Royce Ghost for speeding on SR-99 as he was driving the 1-month-old primate, which was wearing a pink onesie.
Mohamed was arrested and charged with DUI and possession of cannabis for sale, the California Highway Patrol said.
“The driver had a baby monkey attached — or clenched — on his person. That’s something you don’t see every day,” Modera CHP spokesperson Sergio Moreno told North Valley News.
The exotic pet was taken from Mohamed due to California’s rule against owning primates as pets.
“Spider monkeys are illegal. You cannot possess them,” Madera County Animal Services Director Amy Toler told the outlet. “It is on the endangered species list. Definitely can’t have them here in California.”
The infant male monkey was first taken to the Madera Animal Shelter.
While at its temporary shelter, the unnamed monkey snacked on mushed bananas, feeding itself with two separate spoons in an adorable video posted to Facebook.
“Since we don’t have what the monkey needed for feeding, we went with the next best thing, which is your common bananas,” Toler said.
“This is not where they should be. You know, we should not be caring for these animals. They need to be in the wild with nature, with their own species,” she added.
California Department of Fish and Wildlife took custody of the monkey on Tuesday and will transport the primate to the Oakland Zoo, 150 miles northwest of Madera.
Mohamed was booked into Madera County Jail on several charges including possession of an exotic animal.
Photos captured the monkey sitting in Mohamed’s lap in the back of a cop car as another picture showed cops handcuffing the driver during the traffic stop.
Inside the white luxury car, cops pulled out several bags filled with marijuana buds, several phones and a plastic bag of money.
In November, Dallas police confiscated an internet-famous monkey, Jorgie Boy, after the unpermitted pet was found deathly sick and malnourished in a car crash in which his owner says she had passed out drunk.
Brandi Botello, 29, had her 3-year-old spider monkey with her for a weekend when they were in a single-car crash.
The tattooed influencer, who was charged with driving under the influence, fought for the monkey to be returned to her despite Jorgie Boy suffering fractured bones and weighing 6 pounds, less than half the average weight of a spider monkey.
The California Highway Patrol officers had quite the surprise during a recent DUI traffic stop when they found a spider monkey sitting in the front seat of the car.
According to reports, the officers pulled over a vehicle for suspected drunk driving when they noticed the unusual passenger in the front seat. The driver was arrested for driving under the influence, but the monkey was taken into custody by animal control.
It is unclear how the monkey ended up in the car or if it belonged to the driver, but one thing is for sure – this was definitely not your typical traffic stop.
The spider monkey is now safe and being cared for by animal control, and hopefully, this serves as a reminder to always drive sober and never drink and drive. It’s not only dangerous for yourself and others on the road, but you never know what kind of unexpected passengers you might have in your car.
Tags:
California, police, spider monkey, DUI, traffic stop, animal, unusual, discovery, car, California police, monkey, wildlife, law enforcement, bizarre, news, viral, incident, arrest, California highway patrol
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