A father was arrested after allegedly bringing his child into an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo on Friday.
While the California zoo said the parent and his child were unharmed, one witness said it was a close call. The 25-year-old father, identified by the San Diego Police Department as Jose Navarrete, was arrested on one count of child endangerment and a city municipal code violation charge of trespassing on an animal enclosure. He will also be charged with trespassing after he is arraigned at the end of the month, police said.
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“A lot of people froze and didn’t know really how to take it in, then immediately everyone was pleading with him, and then it became frantic and hysterical,” Matthew Passiglia, who said he witnessed the incident, told San Diego‘s NBC 7. “It was a big roar. [The elephant] stuck its head up in the air and its tusks, and he started trotting toward them.”
The father dropped his child as he was running away but was able to hand the child off before the elephant reached them.
The child was 2 years old, according to San Diego police.
“We told him to get out, and he turned around, and he saw it thankfully just in time,” witness Jake Ortale told San Diego’s Fox 5. “He runs, throws his baby through the gate, and it’s seconds from hitting him. He jumps through the gate, falls on the ground, and then, it roared.”
The father breached the habitat “purposely and illegally,” the zoo said in a statement.
“San Diego Zoo security promptly responded to the incident, but the guests had already exited the habitat,” the zoo said. “Both the elephants and the guests are unharmed. San Diego Police Department is on site and we will follow their guidance.”
“I didn’t think it was going to end well,” Passiglia added. “There was a moment when the elephant had the option, and luckily, the elephant took a second guess, and there was confusion right there on the floor with them.”
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The San Diego Police Department told the Washington Examiner on Saturday evening that the father is being held on $100,000 bail and is scheduled for arraignment on March 31.
The Washington Examiner reached out to the San Diego Zoo for comment on the incident.
