Ray William Johnson: True Story Podcast - He Robbed The Zoo // The Davion Irvin Animal Theft Story

Episode Date: April 15, 2026

Davion Irvin is the man who was arrested in 2023 for a series of high-profile incidents at the Dallas Zoo, including the theft of two monkeys.

So this poor monkey is about to get kidnapped. Why? Now, this story starts with this guy. His name's Davian. And Davian is 24 years old living in Texas. And here's the thing about Davian. He really loves animals. In fact, he loves them so much

that he basically wants to own all of them as pets. And, you know, he already has a lot of pets, like he has multiple pigeons and cats and chickens. But all these animals aren't quite enough for Davian. He wants more, and he's willing to break the law to get them. So one day in 2023, Davian is visiting the Dallas Zoo. That's where he sees something pretty awesome. A clouded leopard.

A clouded leopard is like a small leopard. It looks like this. So this leopard's name is Nova, and Nova is about four years old. So Davian thinks Nova is perfect. I mean, she's only about 25 pounds, so she's not too big and she doesn't seem too aggressive. so he decides that he wants a leopard like Nova for himself. But obviously he can't just go buy one. I mean, where do you even buy a leopard?

So he's like, well, I guess I'll just have to steal Nova herself. And so that's what he's going to do. Sometime later, one night, Davian goes back to the zoo after it's closed, and he breaks in by jumping the fence, and he makes his way back to Nova's enclosure. Once he gets there, he uses some bolt cutters or, some kind of tool to cut through the mesh on the enclosure. Then he goes into the pen and he sees her.

And I guess Nova doesn't see him as a threat. She probably thinks he's one of the zookeepers or something. So Davian walks up to her and he starts petting her, you know, to get her to trust him. But then he starts trying to grab her and pick her up to take her with him. And Nova's like, hell no! And she gets scared and leaps up to a tree branch or something else high inside the enclosure. And Davian, he keeps trying to get her, but she refuses to come down. And because of that, Davian can no longer reach her, no matter what he tries.

So now his entire plan has failed, and he gives up and he leaves her there. However, he doesn't leave the zoo quite yet. Davian isn't done. He keeps looking around for more cute and cuddly animals to steal. And eventually, he finds himself at this outdoor enclosure where they keep some of their land. Langer monkeys. And once again, he uses his tool to cut through the mesh, and he goes inside the pen, and these Langer monkeys, they aren't fucking with him at all. They're actually pretty shy. So they climb way up, and they stay out of his reach. And no matter what he does, he can't get them to cooperate.

And eventually, he gets all frustrated and he exits the enclosure and he leaves the zoo empty-handed. But after he leaves, Nova, the clouded leopard, she's. She, I guess, notices that there's a big ass hole cut in the side of her pin. And she's like, oh, I guess I could just use that as an exit and, you know, see what's going on outside my cage. And she escapes from her enclosure. The next day, the zoo staff arrives for their normal shift. And almost immediately, they notice something is very wrong.

Two enclosures have been cut open and a whole ass clouded leopard is missing. And so, boom, the zoo goes into emergency mode. And the staff locks the whole place down, and they call the police. And now police, they have no idea what a clouded leopard is. So they start thinking that it's a full-size leopard. So they dispatch the SWAT team to go deal with it. So then they learned that Nova, she's just a little cat, like 25 pounds, and not a threat. And so the SWAT team ultimately gets to go home.

Regardless, the police department deploys infrared drones to search the area. They even get a helicopter to search the area looking for this cat. And hours go by. And eventually, they find Nova. And she's hiding, but she hadn't left the zoo premises. She's a good kitty. And so they nab her, and they safely return her to her pen. But then, later, the staff discovers something else.

The Langer Monkeys enclosure has also been tampered with. But thankfully, all the monkeys are still there. Langer Monkeys aren't the exploring type. they weren't about to leave. Now, at this point, it's clear to the zoo staff that this wasn't an accident. Someone must have broken in and tampered with things. So they checked the footage from the security cameras, but I guess they don't find anything that could be used to identify anyone specific. Now, here's where the story gets really crazy. So weeks pass, and Davian, he hasn't given up just yet. He's still determined to steal himself a cute and cuddly animal. So he

goes back to the zoo. But this time, during normal operating hours. And he walks around because he's scouting for his next target. And as he's doing that, he's like approaching the staff, asking them all kinds of questions. He asked them where they get their monkeys from, where they get their tigers from, and how they transport them. He asked them about the birds and how they catch them and where they stay at night. And the staff, they think all this is totally weird. But they answer all his questions because, you know, that's their job. And Davian, he's there riding down all their answers on like tissue paper. After that, he goes and he enters staff restricted areas, I guess to get more information, but then he gets caught and he has to leave the zoo.

Now, with all the information he's gathered, Davian starts planning his second break-in. A few weeks later, he breaks into the zoo again. But this time, he has a clear target, the Emperor Tamarin monkeys. So he gets to the Emperor Tamerun Monkey enclosure, and once again, he uses his tool to cut through the mesh, and once he's inside, he manages to catch two of the monkeys. Their names are Bella and Thin. In Tamarins, they're small like a squirrel, so he just like puts them in a bag and he leaves. So now he's officially got two pet monkeys. But here's the thing about Davian.

Despite having all of these pets, he actually doesn't really have a home. Like he's legitimately homeless. In fact, for the last few months, he's been squatting in a vacant house owned by a local church without their permission. So all of these animals he claims he owns live there with him, and that is where he has taken his two new monkeys as well. Now, the next day, the zoo employees realized that once again, another enclosure has been cut open. And this time, Bella and Finn are missing. So they call the police, and police launch a full investigation. And when the police come and check the surveillance cameras, they see Davian.

So they tweet his image out to the public, and they ask for help with finding him. And that is when the daughter of a local pastor sees the images, and she recognizes Davian as a guy who had been known to squat in the vacant church house. So she calls the police, and the police go to check out the vacant church house. And that is where they finally find Bella and Finn, who are just... chilling in a bedroom closet. But Davian isn't there. They have no idea where he is.

A few days later, Davian shows up to a local aquarium, and he's all asking the staff there, like all kinds of weird questions about the animals and stuff. So it feels like he intends to steal some of them as well. But this time, one of the staff recognizes him from the surveillance images the police had released earlier. So this employee immediately calls the police. And so, bam.

The police arrest Davian. Here's his mugshot. And so ultimately, Davian is evaluated and he's found to be mentally unfit to stand trial. So instead of prison, he's sent to a psychiatric hospital for a while.