Cops: Meth User Broke Into Zoo, Swung From Trees, Screamed "I Am Tarzan"
A shirtless, mud-covered man claiming to be Tarzan was arrested on Tuesday after police say he broke into a California zoo and began jumping from trees into animal exhibits, the L.A. Times reports.
A 911 call made by Santa Ana Zoo Director Kent Yamaguchi gives as a real-time account of the intruder’s progress as he scales the zoo’s aviary, then a 20-foot wall overlooking a monkey exhibit before finally climbing down to rest in a patch of bamboo. From KABC:
“We have a gentleman who appears to be under the influence of something and is climbing in our trees and jumping into animal exhibits,” Yamaguchi is heard in the 911 call recording.
“Oh, Okay, wow,” the dispatcher responded.
Yamaguchi said the man, later identified by police as 37-year-old John William Rodenborn, was shirtless and climbing trees near the zoo’s aviary.
“He climbed up into the tree and then proclaimed himself that he was ‘Tarzan,’ and that he was here just to have a good time,” Yamaguchi said.
After a short chase, Rodenborn was reportedly arrested by responding officers.
Police say Rodenborn was in possession of crystal methamphetamine and appeared to be under the influence of the drug.
[Image via Santa Ana Police Department]