Sep 28, 2009 7:16 pm US/Pacific
Man Charged In SF Zoo Exhibit Break-In
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / AP / BCN) ―
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Kenneth Herron was charged with trespassing and disturbing a wild and dangerous animal.
CBS
A 21-year-old man accused of entering the San Francisco's Zoo's grizzly bear enclosure pleaded not guilty Monday to charges of trespassing and disturbing a wild or dangerous animal.
Kenneth Herron entered the pleas in San Francisco Superior Court through his attorney. He was being held for 72 hours for a psychiatric evaluation and was not present.
Herron could face up to a year in county jail if convicted of the two misdemeanor charges. Bail was set Monday at $10,000.
Authorities said they still don't know why or how Herron got into the enclosure of two 6-year-old, 500-pound female grizzlies on Saturday evening.
One of the bears got close enough to sniff his shoe, but zoo staff fired a warning shot that kept the bears from attacking him, officials said. The bears were then taken safely into their night quarters and secured.
The two bears in the grizzly enclosure are sisters and about 5 or 6 years old, according to zoo officials. The zoo rescued them in 2005 when they were going to be euthanized for raiding ranchers' barns in Montana.
The enclosure is surrounded by a 15-to 20-foot rock wall with electrified wires on top and a 14-foot deep moat.
Police said Herron did not appear to be drunk or under the influence of drugs at the time of the incident.
However, District attorney's office spokesman Brian Buckelew said Herron had been "acting strangely" inside the exhibit.
The zoo employee who found him inside reportedly asked him if he was okay, and Herron never responded, Buckelew said.
Herron also has a "violent" criminal history, according to Buckelew, including a conviction for attempting to remove a police officer's firearm in Sacramento in January 2008, and a warrant out of Union City for criminal threats and brandishing a weapon.
Herron is due back in court on Thursday.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
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