STAMFORD, Conn. — A Connecticut woman who owned a chimpanzee who mauled and blinded a woman won’t be charged because there’s no evidence she knowingly disregarded any risk the animal posed, a prosecutor said Monday.
State’s Attorney David Cohen said it wasn’t evident that Sandra Herold of Stamford had been deliberately reckless in handling the animal.
The 200-pound chimpanzee went berserk in February after Herold asked Charla Nash to help lure him back into her house. The animal ripped off Nash’s hands, nose, lips and eyelids.
Cohen said there was no record of the animal attacking anyone previously and that it had interacted with Nash many times before the attack.
Messages were left for attorneys for Herold and Nash, who revealed her heavily disfigured face last month on “The Oprah Winfrey Show.” Nash’s family is suing Herold for $50 million and wants to sue the state for $150 million.
Nash’s family has said Herold was negligent and reckless for lacking the ability to control “a wild animal with violent propensities.”
A biologist for the state Department of Environmental Protection warned officials before the attack that Travis could seriously hurt someone if he felt threatened, noting that he was large and strong.
But Cohen said Monday there’s no evidence those concerns were conveyed to Herold.
