Police in Louisiana had to deal with a bit of monkey business after a man wearing a gorilla costume broke into a home and hid under a mattress while fleeing from police.

According to the Sulphur Police Department, officers received multiple reports from people seeing suspicious person looking into their homes while wearing an all-black costume. Police responded and spotted the suspect, later identified as Jeremie Moran. Officers told the suspect to stop, but he ran into a residence through the front door. Officers set up a perimeter around the residence and determined that Moran never left.

Sulphur police said they entered and found Moran hiding under a mattress. He was arrested and charged with simple resisting a Police Officer with Force or Violence, Unauthorized Entry of an inhabited of a dwelling, possession of methamphetamine, possession of drug paraphernalia, flight from an officer and wearing a masks or hoods in public places.

When police were asked about the suspect's choice of clothing, a police spokesman said "the only reason" Moran would have opted for the costume "was the possibility of the drugs he was using."

Louisiana state law states that a person convicted wearing a mask in public can be sentenced to up to three years in prison. Exceptions are made for religious purposes or for holidays like Halloween and Mardi Gras.

Photo: Sulphur Police Department