A couple sued Texas assistant football coach Jeff Banks and his girlfriend, Danielle Thomas, say Thomas ‘monkey bit their kid in the Banks’ backyard’ on Halloween night.
The lawsuit was filed in Travis County Court in Austin, Texas, on Thursday on behalf of Amy and Casey Clinkenbeard and their child. It seeks damages for negligence and defamation.
According to the lawsuit, the child, identified as CC, tricked or mistreated two friends on Halloween and was invited to attend a haunted house. The suit says that, after completing the haunted house, the child and his friends were taken to a monkey that Thomas kept in the backyard. According to the complaint, the child is believed to be a monkey that has been trained to deliver high-pitched punches.
“Instead of giving it a high five, Danielle Thomas’ monkey aggressively bit CC’s hand and refused to let go,” the lawsuit states, a copy of which was obtained by ESPN Saturday. “CC was forced to pry open the monkey’s jaws with his hands. There was so much blood that CC couldn’t see the whole wound.”
The child’s hand was treated by a physician who lived nearby. The lawsuit says the doctor and another neighbor went to see Thomas to discuss the incident. The doctor told Thomas that a report would have to be submitted to the health department “and additional information on the monkey’s vaccination status would be appreciated so that an appropriate course of treatment for CC could be decided.” .”
According to the lawsuit, “Instead of showing care for an injured child, Danielle Thomas was concerned about the risk of her monkey being taken away. … Danielle Thomas told the doctor that the monkey had died. bit her earlier and that she was fine, implying that the monkey therefore did not have rabies.”
The lawsuit alleges that Thomas failed to provide the monkey’s vaccination records to the child’s family.
Thomas was also identified as “Pole Assassin” in the lawsuit, her stage name is a dancer. She appeared on the show “The Jerry Springer Show” with the monkey.
The lawsuit alleges that Thomas, in an attempt to “discredit CC and his family and protect the monkey,” falsely stated on social media that the child was not allowed on the premises. property and she instructed her guests not to enter. the area where the monkey is.
In a series of deleted tweets, Thomas wrote shortly after the incident: “I have a haunted house on one side that is sealed off / he’s not allowed through the gate. I don’t know him went into my backyard, I didn’t know anything about the bite either! Until a neighborhood doctor told me how to treat a small bite. No parent contacted me about it!”
“An 11/12 year old should know better when entering someone’s yard without permission and being old enough to follow the rules as well,” she added. “The rules are that when you get to the gate, turn around and come back for the candy, every other parent and child has done the same!”
Thomas deleted her Twitter account.
Banks just completed his first season as Texas’ assistant head coach, skills coach and special teams coordinator.
