A Colorado man died after being bitten by a vast venomous lizard known as a Gila monster that he unlawfully kept as a pet.
Christopher Ward, 34, owned two of the reptiles and felt unwell after being bitten on the hand by one of them, according to an incident report filed with the Lakewood Police Department. Lakewood is a suburb of Denver.
Ward's girlfriend contacted 911 just before midnight on February 12 after entering the reptile room and seeing that one of the reptiles had "latched onto Ward's hand," according to LPD Animal Control officer Leesha Crookston in the report.
Ward began showing symptoms immediately, vomiting multiple times before passing out and stopping breathing, according to the report.
Ward's girlfriend told Crookston that she didn't know what caused the bite because she was in another room then, but she did hear Ward say something that "didn't sound right," according to the report.
Ward was transported to a local hospital, where he was placed on life support and eventually "declared brain dead," according to the report.
LPD Public Information Officer John Romero confirmed to CNN on Wednesday that he died on February 16. The reason for death has not been revealed.
According to the allegation, Crookston advised Ward's girlfriend that owning Gila monsters is forbidden in Lakewood.
Crookston and authorities from Colorado Parks and Wildlife and the Department of Natural Resources took the lizards from Ward's home last week.
According to the story, officials aim to transport the lizards to an animal park in South Dakota. Ward retrieved 26 spiders of various species from his home, which he maintained in terrariums.
Ward's girlfriend claims that the lizard that bit Ward was named Winston, which Ward purchased at a reptile display in Denver in October, when the reptile was about a year old, according to the story.
The second Gila monster, dubbed Potato, was purchased as a hatchling from an Arizona breeder in November.
According to the Smithsonian National Zoo, Gila monsters are the most giant lizards in the United States, reaching lengths of up to 22 inches.
