A large chimpanzee that was being kept as a pet by a Kansas City resident escaped Tuesday, running amok through a neighborhood, attempting to get into cars and smashing the windshield of a police car that responded to the scene.
"It was a bizarre lunch hour at 77th and Indiana," blogged Police Chief James Corwin. The chimp – named Suekko, according to the Kansas City Star's report on the incident – weighed about 300 pounds and was found wandering the neighborhood by police responding to citizen reports of the animal roaming around and trying to get into nearby cars and houses.
Animal control officers attempted to incapacitate the rogue chimp with a tranquilizer dart, but the sedative dose seems to have been insufficient to bring down the hefty ape. While officers were prepared to use deadly force to prevent Suekko from attacking anyone – AR-15 patrol rifles were readied, just in case – the chimp eventually just got into a cage in the back of its owner's pickup truck.
The Star reports that the owner, Mark Archigo, has been cited for having a dangerous animal within city limits, according to the city's animal health and public safety division chief, Mike Schumacher. Schumacher added that Archigo has gotten into hot water for keeping the exotic pet on a previous occasion.
While rogue chimpanzees are hardly likely to drive up an area's auto insurance rates, the case does illustrate the multitude of potential causes vehicle owners can have to make a car insurance claim. Making sure policies are up-to-date and fully paid is an important step toward staying financially protected against any event.