HOLIDAY, FL (CNN) - Deputies arrested 23-year-old Cody Hession for allegedly stealing a car.
Their first reaction was hoping the diapered Capuchin monkey clinging to Hession doesn't bite.
Pasco County deputies say Hession stole a car in St. Pete and crashed it into a ditch at a gas station in Holiday, FL, just north of Tampa.
"From what the video surveillance showed us, he turned, looks like to leave but then went straight into the ditch over the curb," Deputy Zachary Dendler recalled.
State wildlife officials arrived at the scene and found out Hession has been keeping the monkey illegally. He told deputies the monkey's name is Monk and he got him in South Carolina.
Monk was taken to Suncoast Primate Sanctuary. To have a Capuchin monkey, you need a wildlife permit, which Hession did not have. He was denied a permit in January.
State wildlife officials say they previously denied Hession a permit because he lied about experience hours on his application.
Debbie Cobb, the sanctuary's park manager, said Monk appears to be healthy.
"We're going to put him in quarantine. We're going to make sure he's adjusting well. We're going to make sure he's eating well," Cobb explained.
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