Chimpanzee’s owner won’t be charged for woman’s injuries

STAMFORD, Conn. (AP) — A Connecticut woman who owned a chimpanzee that mauled and blinded a woman won’t be charged because there’s no evidence she knowingly disregarded any risk the animal posed, a prosecutor said Monday.

State’s Attorney David Cohen said it wasn’t evident that Sandra Herold of Stamford had been deliberately reckless in handling the animal.

The 200-pound chimpanzee went berserk in February after Herold asked Charla Nash to help lure him back into her house. The animal ripped off Nash’s hands, nose, lips and eyelids, and she has been treated at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Cohen said that there was no record of the animal attacking anyone previously, and that it had interacted with Nash many times before the attack.

Nash’s family is suing Herold for $50 million and wants to sue the state for $150 million.

A biologist for the state Department of Environmental Protection warned officials before the attack that Travis could seriously hurt someone if he felt threatened, noting that he was large and strong.

But Cohen said Monday there’s no evidence those concerns were conveyed to Herold.