By Associated Press - Friday, January 11, 2019

FRESNO, Calif. (AP) - A robber who climbed into a California zoo and was bitten by a lion has been sentenced to probation and told he can’t go anywhere near the zoo.

The Fresno Bee says Julio Mendez was sentenced Friday - not for trespassing at the Chaffee Zoo in Fresno but for second-degree robbery involving an unrelated crime. He also was ordered to pay $300 in restitution.

Mendez was free from jail while facing the robbery charge last September when he went to the zoo, climbed over a 4-fence topped with barbed wire and got into an enclosure housing two lionesses.



One lion bit the man’s big toe as he tried to climb a second fence.

Mendez was treated for his injury and later booked back into jail on a warrant.

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