Monkey escape thrills Braceville

By ED RUNYAN

runyan@vindy.com

BRACEVILLE

Tony Thomas of Braceville Robinson Road says when his Capuchin monkey Teeko slipped out the front door of Thomas’ house Monday, he was terrified.

The monkey began its adventure into the unknown just after midnight because of a repair Thomas was making to the door.

“I didn’t know how far he would go. He’s never really been out on his own before. For that matter, he’s never really even been in a tree before,” Thomas said later Monday after Teeko was found and brought back home.

“I was just so relieved. It’s like losing a child. You’re panic stricken. You don’t know what to do,” Thomas said of his pet of five years.

Right after Teeko got away, Thomas looked for him, even rigging up a head lamp and sound amplifier to help him see and hear Teeko in the wooded area behind his house near the Ohio Turnpike.

Thomas notified friends on Facebook in case it became necessary to form a search party.

He also notified a worker at a Marathon truck stop on state Route 5 a short distance away to be on the lookout for Teeko. He had taken Teeko to the gas station a time or two to entertain them, Thomas said.

At 6:38 a.m., a truck stop female employee made a memorable 911 call after someone spotted Teeko at the back of the property.

“We have a vicious monkey in our parking lot, and no this is not a joke,” the woman said. “We really do have a monkey.”

“A vicious monkey?” the 911 operator said, incredulous. “This is the first time I have ever taken this type of a call.”

The woman said Thomas had told her the monkey was loose and said, “Do not approach it. It has teeth. It is vicious and it will bite and attack.” She added, “It is now in our back parking lot running between semi trucks, and I don’t want one of our customers to get bit.”

Officers from the Braceville Police Department and Trumbull County Sheriff’s Office responded to look for Teeko.

The 911 center reported at 7:18 a.m. that Teeko had been found on the roof of a nearby home.

Teeko was “in custody,” at 7:24 a.m., an officer told the 911 center, possibly a bit tongue in cheek.

Thomas says he was the one who found Teeko, who climbed up a television antenna on the outside of the house two doors down from Thomas.

Teeko rode home from the neighbor’s house on the shoulder of Thomas’ friend.

Thomas said he’s legally allowed to keep the monkey, and it didn’t hurt anyone, so there were no criminal charges filed over the escape.

An officer at the Braceville police station said he could not provide a police report or any information because the incident occurred just before he started his shift.

Thomas said Teeko is a tough customer so “you wouldn’t want to tangle with him,” even though Teeko weighs only about 7 pounds.

“You have to take care of him, which I usually do, but I was fixing the door and he took up the opportunity” to slip out, Thomas said.

It is the first time Teeko has escaped, he said.