Chiafari STAMFORD (Conn.) — Everyone here knew Travis, the Chimp. His owners drove him around in a truck and Frank Chiafari was on the job for 25-years. He also remembered playing with Travis when they met.
Officer Chiafari recalls, “When I first saw him, he seemed small and sweet and friendly — he’d wave to you,” “Who would’ve thought that 15 years after we played together, this incident would occur?”
Travis, a 14-year-old 200-pound pet of Sandra Herold (71), attacked a family friend in Sandra Herold’s driveway. It has been just over a year. Officer Chiafari, along with another officer, responded to Ms. Herold’s 911 call. After Travis attacked her vehicle and opened the driveway driver’s door, Officer Chiafari shot Travis.
The sensational story and its underpinnings — Travis lived as a human being, drinking wine, and eating steak. He became hostile on the day of his attack and took Xanax. Travis had previously appeared in Coca-Cola and Old Navy commercials, as well as on television. Morgan Fairchild, the actress who had starred beside him, called Travis’ death a “sin.”
Charla Nash (56), was the victim. She survived. Charla Nash, 56, was able to recover from the attack. In November, an episode of “Oprah Winfrey Show” presented her recovery. Her features were lost and she was blind.
Officer Chiafari’s story was unknown to anyone until now.
Officer Chiafari (53), a husband, father of three and father of two, spoke out about Tuesday’s interview at Stamford police headquarters. The terrifying encounter with the enraged, bloody chimp that outweighed him by fifty pounds was what haunted him. But he also saw the victim in his driveway.
He said, “I would go to the mall to see women and imagine them with no faces.”
Officer Chiafari needed therapy but was denied worker’s comp. Harrowing episodes that involved a person, such as shooting a suspect, for example, would be covered. However similar encounters with animals weren’t.
After police and union officials intervened on his behalf, the City of Stamford eventually paid for his visits to a therapist. Joseph Kennedy, president of Stamford Police Association.
Andrew J. McDonald (Stamford Democrat) has introduced legislation to cover officers’ compensation for emotional or mental impairment following the death of an animal under threat. On Thursday, Officer Chiavari will testify in support of the legislation at a General Assembly Committee on Labor and Public Employees hearing.
Officer Chiafari didn’t get the job by accident. After being raised in Queens, Chiavari moved to Connecticut in his 20s. He had spent eight years in Manhattan as an apprentice printer’s assistant and as a Times Square store detective — a job that he disliked. He was a singer-songwriter and performed original and Beatles songs at parties and in Queens, Long Island, and other venues.
He passed the Stamford police exam with a friend, and he joined the department as a member in 1985. He sings and continues to record original songs and covers. He enjoys long walks and animals. He had never fired his gun in the line of duty before when he tried to kill a deer struck by a car.
On February 16, 2009, Officer Chiafari began his shift at 3:00 p.m. He reported his location to his police radio and stopped at a Starbucks to have tea with another officer. The radio then rang.
He said, “The call came in as a monkey attacking someone.” It sounded funny at first. They said, “Code 3” — lights and sirens, hurry up.
“I could see that something wasn’t right.”
As the dispatcher was more urgent, Ms Herold became more urgent and they drove in separate cars to her house on Rock Rimmon Road. Officer Chiafari discovered who the monkey was. The Herold family owned an auto towing business that would occasionally respond to police calls for vehicles to be moved. They would also bring their pet monkey along. “Travis loves cops,” Ms Herold stated in 1998.
Officer Chiafari was driving and thought, “Wait, that’s Travis!”
He pulled up to the house, and he saw a pile of clothes in the driveway. He said, “Then I realized that it was a human being.“ It was all torn apart.
The body was to his right, while the other officer was to his left. Officer Chiafari blocked Travis’s view from the front porch by his car. He saw Travis jump up and down in a “frenzy“.
He said, “He starts smashing the passenger window,” “I’m terrified. “I see what he did to the victim.” He pulled his pistol. Ms. Herold, who was hiding in a vehicle behind the chimp, emerged from behind him and entered his line of fire. He turned to the victim. He looked at the victim. He raised his gun.
Officer Chiafari stated that Travis knocked the side-view mirror from the squad car off its road. Officer Chiafari was still puzzled about how to help the victim. Travis then returned to the porch and calmly approached the driver’s side door.
Officer Chiafari stated, “I forgot that I had the door unlocked.” Before the chimp distracted him, he unlocked the door to assist Ms Nash. He opens the door. We are now, as if, face-to-face with one another. Our eyes met.”
The chimp’s owner had stabbed him in his back with a butcher knife. There was blood everywhere. The chimp was as shocked as Officer Chiafari when he opened the door. He was held in place by a computer console, and then pulled out his pistol again.
He said, “He gave me a split-second to react.” He snarls and shows his teeth. I can see the blood. I can see his fangs. “I just started to shoot.”
He claimed that he didn’t hear the four shots and that the chimp hadn’t seemed to react. He thought the gun had misfired. Travis then screamed a final time and walked away.
Paramedics and Officer Chiafari, who had been waiting for the chimp in their vehicles, raced to the body. He said, “She didn’t have a face.” He said, “Her hands are out of control. “There are thumbs, fingers and all over the place.” He called to her. “I feel terrible, but I was hoping that she wasn’t aware.”
Ms Nash grabbed the officer’s leg with her stumped arms, which was perhaps his worst memory from that day.
Travis had just entered Travis’ home and died in his bedroom. Ms Nash was taken to the hospital. Officer Chiafari was also taken to the hospital for shock. He was then sent home where he informed his wife and three children, a 10-year-old girl and a teenage boy and girl, what had happened.
He said, “The next day, I crashed.” “I had heard about post-traumatic stress. To be honest, I doubt I believed it.
The chimp was smashed at his car window by the chimp. He also saw a therapist. He said that he couldn’t wear a red shirt after the attack because it reminded him of blood. Everyone wanted to hear his story. His therapist advised him to decline politely, which was a great idea.
A month later, Officer Chiavari was back at work. He couldn’t drive down Rock Rimmon Road at first, but he eventually forced himself to confront his fear and visit the driveway.
He was second-guessed by others. He looked at his watch. He shook his head.
However, panic attacks and depression set in. His July family trip to Disney World in July was a nightmare. It ruined his appetite and his vacation. He was unable to watch the much-publicized Oprah visit of Ms Nash, and it brought back many painful memories. He said that he felt more and more like his former self.
He said that “I’m positive” and added that he was open to the possibility of meeting Ms Nash one day — but not now.
He is a funny guy in how he reacted to the incident. He laughed and said, “I’ll go into the store and my girl will say, “Daddy, don’t look in that corner,’ which means it’s a Chimp in the corner.” He avoids any news coverage about the shooting or shows about deadly chimps. “I turn off the TV when ‘When Animals Attack’ is on.”
Naturally, Officer Chiafari declined to take part in the reenactment of the attack when Animal Planet asked him. The episode will air on March 28th as part of the series “Fatal Attractions.”
Travis was the one who arranged those events, but Officer Chiavari doesn’t hold Travis responsible.
He said, “I consider him to be a victim.” He should have been in the jungle, where he was supposed to be. He should not be in a house sipping wine and taking Xanax.
Also Read
- Paul Newman, Joanne Woodward, and the Perils of the Power couple
- Know About Yung Gravy Leak Video
- Is it really so bad to watch ESPN college football on TV?
- Best 4K TV
