FAYETTEVILLE — Police investigated a call Tuesday morning about a man dressed in jungle clothes and carrying a gun, Sgt. Craig Stout said Wednesday. The man was birdwatching, police said.
A man called police at 10:21 a.m. Wednesday and said he saw a person dressed in a costume carrying a military-style rifle across a street near Zion Road and North Vantage Drive, according to a police dispatch report. Police tracked the man described by different people as an older man wearing jungle attire or a costume similar to the zookeeper in Curious George, a popular children’s book and cartoon series.
The man was also described as a character from George of the Jungle, which is a movie and TV series parody of Tarzan, a fictional character raised in the jungle by apes.
Stout confirmed people described the man as wearing jungle-type attire or looking like the character dressed in the yellow suit from the children’s books. A police dispatch report also showed people described the man as wearing tan clothing.
Police eventually found the man around Veterans Memorial Park, according to the dispatch report. The man was carrying a telescope and tripod, not a firearm, and was wearing a “safari hat,” according to the report.
No gun was involved, and no one was hurt during the investigation, Stout said.