A California man who took his 2-year-old daughter into an elephant enclosure at the San Diego Zoo last year was sentenced Thursday to probation, prosecutors said.
Jose Navarrete, 26, who was charged with felony child endangerment, was given credit for serving nine months in jail when he was sentenced to four years probation and 52 weeks of child abuse classes, according to a spokesperson with the San Diego County District Attorney’s Office. A protective order was also filed against him on behalf of Navarrete’s daughter and he was also ordered to stay away from the zoo, the spokesperson said.
NBC San Diego reported Navarrete took his daughter into the elephant habitat on March 19, 2021.
He bypassed multiple barriers and “purposely and illegally trespassed” into a habitat for Asian and African elephants, a zoo spokesman said after the incident.
A witness video provided to NBC San Diego shows a man dropping the child as they flee the enclosure as an elephant charged at them. The man picked up the toddler and was able to get her out safely.
Police had said the man wanted to take a photo with the African bull elephant. The elephants were not harmed, zoo officials said.
Navarrete’s lawyer, Onell Soto, said Friday his client is “remorseful.”
“He knows he endangered his daughter,” Soto said.