Drunk, half-naked lab worker arrested after allegedly partying with monkeys

An Augusta, Georgia man is in custody after he was found drunk and half naked, allegedly after a night of partying with a pair of uncaged monkeys in the lab where he worked. According to Augusta’s WJBF, Channel 6, 32-year-old Coley Oneal Mitchell is in the Richmond County Jail, charged with public drunkenness.

European Phoenix -- Mitchell was an employee of Georgia Health Sciences University (GHSU), which owns the lab where the monkeys are kept. He was discovered partially disrobed and unconscious in a Lab Animal Services Technician locker room by campus police on Monday.

A GHSU spokesperson confirmed to WJBF that two monkeys had been let out of their cages in the Animal Services Lab over the weekend.

The university has released a statement that reads, “No animals were harmed during the incident, but the university takes the allegations very seriously. GHSU does not condone behavior that conflicts with the research, education and clinical missions of the university and employees are expected to conduct themselves, at all times, with integrity and respect.”

The monkeys were checked by a veterinarian, who pronounced them healthy and unharmed before returning them to their cages.