Apr 11, 2008 5:35 am US/Pacific
2 Arrested For Stealing From Chimp Attack Victims
WEST COVINA, Calif.
A man and a woman were taken into custody on suspicion of stealing a purse from a woman that was shopping at a West Covina Target store with her disabled husband. He was seriously injured after being attacked by two chimpanzees, police said.
Karen Jean Cervantes, 46, of Baldwin Park was arrested on three counts of burglary, one count of forgery and one count of petty theft. She is being held in lieu of $20,000, West Covina police Cpl. Rudy Lopez said.
Parolee Michael Dean Huffman, 44, of Baldwin Park, is also in custody on suspicion of three counts of burglary and two counts of forgery. As Huffman is on parole, he is being held without bail, Lopez said.
At 10 a.m. Friday morning, the West Covina Police Department will hold a news conference at to publicly announce the arrests. The victims are expected to attend.
The West Covina Police Department received anonymous calls that provided information which led to the identities and arrests of both suspects, Lopez said.
La Donna Davis and her husband, St. James Davis -- who is confined to a wheelchair -- were shopping at the Target store at Eastland Shopping Center in West Covina on March 30.
While La Donna leaned over to get an item, a thief stole her purse as her husband watched from his wheelchair. La Donna's identification, credit and bank cards were inside her purse.
The thief used La Donna's credit cards and identification to make purchases within 90 minutes of the incident.
"The woman was very smug, relaxed, as she walked away with the purse and got into a white Dodge truck," La Donna told City News Service after viewing the theft on video captured by store surveillance camera. "She wasn't disturbed at all. It looked like she was on a Sunday afternoon walk, talking on a cell phone."
La Donna told Attorney Gloria Allred that the suspect "could see full well that he was disabled and in a wheelchair and she made a conscious decision that she was going to take something that he was guarding. The importance of this purse is that we shared it. It contained items that we both rely on each day for our survival."
Among identities and credit cards, the thieves also took medical information and medications St. James needs to treat injuries he suffered in a near-fatal mauling by two rogue chimpanzees. He was hurt as he and his wife were visited their own chimpanzee, known as "Moe the Chimp," for his 39th birthday near Bakersfield on March 3, 2005, Allred said.
After the theft, St. James said he kept asking himself, "How could she do his to me? I keep asking myself why, why, why do I have such bad luck?"
(© 2008 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Wire services contributed to this report.)
