By Tim Binnall
A seemingly routine traffic stop yielded quite the surprise for California cops as they discovered that the driver had been cruising around with a baby spider monkey. According to a local media report, the wild find occurred on Monday evening when the Madera California Highway Patrol pulled over a Rolls Royce Ghost that they had spotted speeding. Cops approaching the vehicle did something of a double-take, department spokesman Sergio Moreno later recounted, at the sight of a onesie-clad baby spider monkey "clenched" to the man behind the wheel. Calling the incident "a traffic stop with a twist," the information officer marveled "that's something you don't see every day."
Since it is illegal to own a spider monkey in California, the diminutive creature was seized on the spot and transported to the county's Animal Services department for safekeeping. The endangered animal was subsequently handed over to the Oakland Zoo, which is better equipped to care for the now-former exotic pet that is believed to be around a month old. As for its owner, it would appear that he has bigger problems than that bit of proverbial monkey business as, during the stop, police also found a sizeable amount of marijuana seemingly intended for sale in his vehicle and determined that he had been driving under the influence, leading to charges for both offenses.