Man accused of stealing flamingo from Vegas casino on trial
Mitchell Fairbarn admitted footage of him stealing the pink bird ‘doesn’t look good’
Wild new details have been revealed in the case of a man accused of stealing a flamingo from an iconic Las Vegas resort ... and his defense is equal parts stunning and hilarious.
Police say Mitchell Fairbarn, a 34-year-old tourist from Ontario, Canada, was caught on surveillance footage in March hopping a fence to get inside the flamingo habitat at the Flamingo Hotel and Casino — and stealing a flamingo named Peachy, KVVU reported.
Authorities say Fairbarn, who faces two counts of animal cruelty, was drunk at the time of the theft. Now on trial, he told a Nevada court on Friday that he took the bird as a “silly pranky joke” after drinking between 30 and 40 beers.
He denied malicious intent to hurt or kill the flamingo.
Peachy suffered seven to eight missing feathers, broken shafts and blood loss consistent with trauma and needed antibiotics, anti-inflammatories and weeks of pain medicine to recover, the bird’s veterinarian said.
Prosecutors opened the trial last week with surveillance footage, photos and Snapchats showing Fairbarn smiling, laughing and grabbing Peachy by the neck along with his two friends.
The veterinarian said grabbing Peachy by the neck was inappropriate — and could have potentially been fatal.
During his testimony Friday, Fairbarn testified that he grew up on farms, owns dogs and a parrot named Sonny. He said he once rescued an abandoned llama and six ducks.
He said that he had spent the day gambling and estimated that he had consumed between 30 and 40 beers. He said he entered the flamingo habitat around 5 a.m. while drunk and sleep-deprived, according to the report.
While inside the habitat, Fairbarn said that he sat with one flamingo before grabbing Peachy as a joke to take a photograph.
He said that he took the bird out of the habitat and was walking for “two or three minutes” toward his hotel room, but left the bird in the hallway. He was later arrested and has been on house arrest, unable to return to Canada, ever since.
While under cross-examination, Fairbarn admitted that the video shown to jurors “doesn’t look good.”
Fairbarn said he was “taking responsibility” for Peachy’s injuries, but also claimed “I have no idea” how some of the bird’s feathers were lost.
His trial is set to resume Monday with closing arguments before the jury deliberates.