Prosecutors decide not to charge chimps' caretaker in brutal Bakersfield attack

(04-21) 00:29 PDT Bakersfield, Calif. (AP) --

Officials investigating a savage attack by two chimps at an animal sanctuary said Wednesday the animals' keeper failed to lock two of three doors on their cage, which warranted misdemeanor criminal charges.

"We believe there were violations ... and that's why we submitted the case," said Hal Chealander, commander of the Kern County Sheriff's division that oversees Havilah, a rural, mountainous area near Bakersfield where the attack took place. "We had a job to do, and we believe we did it very well."

However, prosecutors disagreed and decided Tuesday not to charge Virginia Brauer, the chimps' caretaker. The decision disappointed LaDonna Davis, whose husband, St. James Davis, lost most of his face, his foot and his fingers in the attack.

LaDonna Davis, who lost a thumb in the attack, said it's excruciating for her to watch her husband suffer from his injuries. He has had dozens of operations and is struggling with a lung infection from the bacteria and feces he inhaled while wrestling with the chimp in the dirt, she said.

St. James Davis has not regained consciousness since the attack, his wife said, and doctors have warned her that he could suffer a heart attack from the stress of his condition.

"It is overwhelming," LaDonna Davis said in a telephone interview Wednesday. "There's been many times when I've been (by his bedside) when I've gotten sick to my stomach and had to step out and cry for a while. It's just day by day right now."

LaDonna Davis's attorney, Gloria Allred, said she believes the sanctuary is liable for the chimp's escape but said she has ruled out a civil lawsuit because the facility says it has no liability insurance.

Allred said she and Davis will instead lobby the state Legislature to pass a law requiring all private animal sanctuaries to have liability insurance.

"In my opinion, there would be liability on the part of the sanctuary and there are significant damages but they represent that have no assets or no insurance," Allred said.

On March 3, Brauer left open two of the three doors that held the animals in their enclosure, Chealander said.

Brauer told law enforcement officers she was certain the third barrier — a wire mesh trapdoor held in place by a 4-inch pin about an arm's length from the chimps — was locked when she hurried out of the pen to help the Davises. The couple was bringing a cake and other birthday gifts for Moe, a pet chimp they had sent to Animal Haven Ranch about five months before the attack.

"She left the bunkhouse in a hurry," Chealander said. "But she felt certain the trapdoor was closed and secure."

But as the couple settled in front of the cage holding Moe, four other chimps escaped the enclosure they shared. The two males — Ollie and Buddy — attacked St. James Davis, jealous of the attention the couple gave Moe.

Chealander said the chimps probably escaped because, unbeknownst to Brauer, they had learned to reach through the wire mesh and push up the pin that held the door in place — a trick investigators saw the female chimps perform during a March 10 visit. The male chimps were shot shortly after the attack.

The two agencies that investigated, the sheriff's department and the state Department of Fish and Game, found three misdemeanor violations: failure to keep animals under control, failure to keep cages completely enclosed, and failure to house animals to prevent escape.

But the Kern County District Attorney's office refused to pursue the case, saying even though two of the doors holding the chimps back were open, Brauer had reason to believe the third, locked cage door would keep them restrained.

"There's just no evidence Mrs. Brauer had any idea the chimps had figured out how to unlock the cage," District Attorney Edward R. Jagels said in an interview Wednesday. "We don't think a crime was committed. Nobody could predict this would happen. We can't call it negligence, much less intent."

Jagels went on to say that Brauer was courageous, enticing the chimps into her house, even though she had an infant at home. But she wasn't able to keep them in the building.

Brauer has been cooperative, Chealander said, and she has changed the locks on the cages since the incident.

"She's very remorseful about what happened," he said.

The Brauers did not return calls seeking comment.

Their exotic animal permit, issued by Fish and Game, expired March 25. The couple applied for an extension, which was granted, pending the investigation's outcome, said spokesman Patrick Foy.

The sanctuary remains home to four chimpanzees and one spider monkey, Foy said, adding that a condition of the extension was that the Brauers obtain no new animals.