A San Antonio man was rushed to the hospital after he ran into traffic while being pursued by a man dressed in a gorilla suit and was struck by a vehicle early Friday morning.
A man leaving the Hooter’s Restaurant just off of US 281 N and Bitters who witnessed the bizarre event as it unfolded told San Antonio police he saw 32 year old Paul Nimnicht run into traffic just after midnight being followed by the man in the gorilla suit before being struck by a white Infiniti (quite literally knocking Nimnicht out of his shoes) reports Kens 5.
According to police reports, Nimnicht was coming from the nearby Coco Bongo, a bar on nearby Embassy Oaks Drive and that the incident occurred after he left the bar without paying his tab.
Witnesses from the club told police they overheard Nimnicht saying that he wanted to kill himself just before he darted into the southbound lanes Fox News reports. According to Officer Matthew Porter of the San Antonio Police Department:
“There was an employee of the bar that followed him. He was dressed in a gorilla costume. At that point, he was trying to catch up to our victim.”
KSAT reports the owner of the Coco Bongo told police that his employee was not chasing the victim but was following Nimnicht after overhearing him talking about killing himself.
Several cars were able to swerve and miss the distraught Nimnicht before being hit.
“If this individual was indeed going through some sort of mental crisis, obviously we want to get him help,” Porter said.
Nimnicht was rushed to University Hospital, where he’s listed in stable condition.