Man Takes His 2-Year-Old Inside an Elephant Exhibit at the Zoo

An elephant charged a man and his 2-year-old daughter who got inside an exhibit at the San Diego Zoo on Friday afternoon.

The man bypassed multiple barriers and “purposely and illegally trespassed” into a habitat that includes the zoo’s Asian and African elephants.

Witness video shows the man holding the child while standing inside the exhibit when a crowd notices the elephant behind him. They start to yell as the elephant picks up its pace and charges toward the man, letting out a fierce roar.

The video shows the man start to run when he realizes the elephant is behind him.

Police said he dropped the girl as he climbed to safety. He ducks under a fence and his daughter ends up on the ground, inches away from the riled elephant. He ended up getting her through a gate and he jumped through just as the elephant was about to take him out.

Apparently, people who saw what went down were not happy with the dad. Neither were the police.

The 25-year-old was booked into San Diego Central Jail on suspicion of child cruelty.

The girl went home with her mother.