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Man arrested for stealing lemur from zoo

SANTA ANA, Calif. — Police said the burglar who ran off with a 32-year-old lemur from the Santa Ana Zoo last summer has been identified. They said Quinn Kasbar, 19, stole the endangered animal, the oldest lemur in North America.

"They took the senior lemur, the oldest guy of the bunch," said Cpl. Anthony Bertagna, of the Santa Ana police.

Kasbar has also been charged in dozens of burglaries in his hometown of Newport Beach.

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Until recently, video from outside a hotel was the only solid clue detectives had. It appeared to show a man in a hoodie dropping off a box, but inside was the endangered primate and a note saying, "This belongs to the Santa Ana Zoo. It was taken last night. Please bring it to police."

"They got info that he was bragging to an individual that he had committed that burglary and taken a lemur and there was evidence that proved that fact," said Bertagna.

It's a case investigators from Newport Beach say they've solved and passed on to Santa Ana police, who are sharing now with federal officials because the lemur is an endangered species.

"Unfortunately for him, he took an endangered animal and now he's going to have to pay the price," said Bertagna.

Kasbar will appear next month in state court on the string of burglary charges.