A man charged in a string of Newport Beach burglaries has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge for stealing an endangered lemur from the Santa Ana Zoo last year.
On July 27, 2018 an intruder used bolt cutters to punch holes into the zoo’s enclosures containing capuchin monkeys and the lemur, according to the plea agreement. The monkeys were quickly rounded up within the park, but the lemur, named Isaac, went missing.
The next day, Isaac was found abandoned in a container in front of the Newport Beach Marriott Bayview hotel.
Federal prosecutors said on Monday, May 20, that Aquinas Kasbar, 19, also called Quinn, has admitted to breaking into the zoo after-hours that night and making off with the 32-year-old ring-tailed lemur – the oldest of its kind in captivity in North America. They say he intended to keep the lemur, one of the 25 most endangered primates, as a pet.
The misdemeanor count of unlawfully taking an endangered species carries a maximum penalty of one year in federal prison and a $100,000 fine. Kasbar was out of custody and scheduled for an initial court appearance on May 28 in Santa Ana’s federal courthouse, said Ciaran McEvoy, a U.S. Attorney’s Office spokesman.
After stealing the animal, Kasbar put him in a plastic drawer that lacked ventilation holes, according to the United States Attorney’s Office. Kasbar left him in that same container in front of the hotel with notes reading “Lemur (with tracker)” and “This belongs to the Santa Ana Zoo it was taken last night please bring it to police.”
Ethan Fisher, the Santa Ana Zoo’s manager, said the break-in resulted in $8,486 in damage to the enclosures and loss of admission fees when part of the park had to be closed for repairs.
Fisher said Isaac was unharmed. As a 32-year-old, Isaac is much older than other lemurs who typically live 20 to 25 years. Lemurs are endangered, in part, because of the illegal pet trade.
“He’s doing well,” Fisher said. “It’s nice to have some closure to this.”
Local authorities said last week that Newport Beach police investigators found evidence that Kasbar was the culprit while investigating a string of burglaries he was charged with last year. He was arrested in December 2018 for those burglaries, which took place over several months and resulted in thefts of several hundred thousands dollars in property, Newport Beach police said at the time.
Before his arrest, Kasbar was in the news for surfing on an air mattress at Newport’s Wedge last summer.
The case is being investigated by the FBI, the United States Fish and Wildlife Service and the Newport Beach and Santa Ana police departments.
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