Escaped Florida Monkey Eats Mail, Breaks Police Cruiser In Sanford Neighborhood

An escaped monkey caused mischief Monday morning in Sanford, Florida, when local police responded to a call that the animal was on the loose in a residential neighborhood. The monkey -- who authorities later found out was named Zeek -- ate people's mail, ran from officers and pulled off part of a police car before his owner showed up, the Orlando Sentinel reported. No injuries occurred, and no charges had been filed.

The Sanford Police Department was notified at about 8 a.m. local time that a monkey was sitting on mailboxes and chewing on their contents in the Hidden Lakes subdivision, according to its Facebook page. When authorities arrived, Zeek hopped onto a police cruiser and began taking off its molding. Officers eventually lured him off with a water bottle, which he played with until his owner arrived. The Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission told WFTV Zeek belonged to Jeff Jacques, who is permitted to keep the animal.

Zeek had broken out of his cage earlier that day. When Jacques arrived, Zeek "jumped into his arms," WFTV reported.

Incidentally, Zeek was not the only monkey on the loose in central Florida. Residents in DeBary, about 20 minutes away from Sanford, told WOFL they'd seen a rhesus monkey walking the streets of their neighborhood last week. The animal was thought to be part of the infamous monkey colony in nearby Silver Springs -- a group that was brought to Florida in the 1930s as part of a tourist attraction, according to the International Primate Protection League.

A third Florida monkey made headlines in 2012 when he was captured after three years of running around near Tampa. The so-called Mystery Monkey bit a 60-year-old woman on the back in an "unprovoked attack," the Tampa Bay Times reported. Her neighbors had been feeding it.