Victim of chimp attack sues Connecticut governor, says he knew of danger

HARTFORD, Conn. - A Connecticut woman who was mauled and severely injured by an out-of-control chimpanzee and is now suing the state says Gov. Dannel P. Malloy, as then-mayor of Stamford, knew the animal was dangerous.

In an interview with The Hartford Courant, Charla Nash said the chimpanzee got loose and roamed Stamford in 2003. She says Malloy knew the chimp's owner, Sandra Herold, and allowed her to take him home and warned that he should be locked up. She was attacked by the animal in February 2009.

Malloy's senior adviser, Roy Occhiogrosso, told the newspaper that the governor may have met and spoken with Herold at one of his public meetings but they never discussed the chimp or the incident Nash mentioned.

Nash's lawyers say state environmental officials received reports and complaints about the danger.

A spokesman for the state environmental agency would not comment.