Security staff at a Strip resort called police after a man entered the property’s flamingo habitat, attacked several of the birds and carried one to his room, according to 911 audio released by the Metropolitan Police Department.
“In fact, one may not make it,” one guard told a Metropolitan Police Department dispatcher.
Metro released two calls associated with a March 3 incident at the Flamingo resort in which Mitchell Fairbarn, 33, of Canada, is accused of illegally entering the habitat, taking one of the birds, Peachy, and torturing it.
Fairbarn faces four counts of animal cruelty.
In the first call, a security guard said her team learned of the alleged attack after someone reported seeing a man walking through a hotel hallway carrying a flamingo. When security checked the habitat, they discovered a bird missing, and two others seriously injured, the guard said.
The guard also said that surveillance footage caught a person jumping the fence into the enclosure and leaving with one of the birds. At the time of the call, security had located the man and placed him in custody.
In Fairbarn’s arrest report, police said that the tourist grabbed the flamingo by its neck and legs, entered an elevator with the bird wrapped in a shirt and jacket and took it to the 14th floor.
Fairbarn also clipped the wing of a bird he was chasing and trying to pin down in the habitat, causing the bird to suffer pain and require stitches, according to the report.
The report also said that Fairbarn told police that he popped a flamingo’s wing back into place, thinking he was being helpful by fixing the bird, but said he was drunk and could not recall chasing birds.
Caesars Entertainment Corp., which owns the Flamingo, previously said the matter was “deeply distressing” and it was hopeful the birds would make a full recovery.
About two hours after the first 911 call, a man identifying himself as the Flamingo’s security manager called police to ask about their response. The dispatcher told him the call was still pending.
“He stole one of the flamingo birds,” the second caller said. “It’s kind of serious stuff.”
Contact Akiya Dillon at adillon@reviewjournal.com
