San Francisco Zoo officials discovered a missing animal from their Lipman Family Lemur Forest, the 21-year-old male ring-tailed lemur, Maki, on October 14, 2020, who has since been located and returned to the zoo.
The suspect that stole Maki from the San Francisco Zoo last year was released from official custody on Tuesday, with the judge ordering the man to stay away from the establishment in the future.
Maki the Lemur
The 31-year-old suspect, Cory McGilloway, wore an orange sweatsuit, a blue mask tied to his blond hair, and had his arms behind his back during his first court appearance. Authorities arrested McGilloway in October last year after he was found in Marin County.
Judge Michael McNaughton told the suspect to keep his distance from the zoo and adhere to the rules of his probation given to him last year. Late last year, McGilloway received the terms of his probation and is set to be given a schedule for a trial after charges of grand theft, second-degree burglary, and vandalism in San Francisco.
For the last three months since he was arrested on October 15, 2020, McGilloway has been under the custody of Marin County officials after he allegedly stole a Marin Sanitary Service truck. The suspect’s defense attorney said officials gave him probation for the incident, and he was told to participate in a weekly mental health class and prescribed medication.
After stealing Maki from the Lipman Family Lemur forest habitat on October 13, 2020, McGilloway quickly became viral worldwide. Authorities found the 21-year-old endangered ring-tailed lemur two days later walking alone in a Daly City preschool, shortly before authorities arrested McGilloway.
Separate Crime
San Rafael police discovered photographs of the missing lemur on the suspect’s phone after they arrested McGilloway for stealing the truck. Officials who found Maki said that the animal did not suffer any injuries while away from the zoo.
The judge who preceded McGilloway’s Tuesday hearing revealed a previous Los Angeles County case related to the suspect, which was not made public. The defendant accepted a guilty plea in 2018 to have charges of assault, and two counts of attempted murder dropped from his case, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.
A previous media report showed that McGilloway and his mother were arrested on November 2, 2017. The incident was due to a bloody knife that occurred in Landers, just north of Palm Springs. The argument involved McGilloway and two other unidentified men, all of whom suffered stab wounds and were transferred to the hospital for treatments.
McGilloway told the judge during the Tuesday San Francisco court hearing that he was out on probation outside Los Angeles County. However, court records showed that prosecutors had charged the suspect with two counts of battery after an incident on September 3, 2020.
