Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Contact:  (414) 224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Pubdate: Wed, 18 Mar 1998
Author: Meg Jones of the Journal Sentinel staff

SON OF ZOO OFFICIAL FACES DRUG CHARGES

A Racine zoo official's son, who was accused of taking $3,000 from the zoo
last year, has been charged in Jefferson County with selling cocaine to an
undercover officer, officials said Tuesday.

Patrick Torhorst, 18, of Racine, was in the Jefferson County Jail on
Tuesday in lieu of $5,000 bail.

Torhorst was charged Monday in Jefferson County with one count of delivery
of cocaine within 1,000 feet of a park and two counts of possession of
narcotics with the intent to deliver. A preliminary hearing is scheduled
for Tuesday.

Torhorst was arrested Sunday in Palmyra after he allegedly sold a
half-ounce of cocaine for $725 in a restaurant parking lot, Palmyra Police
Chief Scott Neubauer said Tuesday.

When officers searched Torhorst's vehicle, they discovered 500 Vicodin and
100 Percodan painkiller pills, which Torhorst admitted stealing from a
Waterford pharmacy where he works, according to the criminal complaint.
Neubauer said the pharmacy is owned by Torhorst's uncle.

When police asked Torhorst about the painkillers, he said he intended "to
eat 'em and also to give them to friends," according to the complaint.

Torhorst was cited last year for municipal ordinances of trespass and
theft, and ordered to pay a $250 fine in connection with a burglary at the
Racine zoo, where his father, Thomas Torhorst, is the executive director.

He could have faced a felony charge of burglary, but Racine County District
Attorney Robert Flancher decided to charge Torhorst with the lesser
ordinance.

As part of the agreement, a felony burglary charge could be filed if
Torhorst commits a crime. Neubauer said Tuesday the district attorney was
considering filing burglary charges against Torhorst in light of his arrest
Sunday.

Flancher did not return a phone message Tuesday.

Police were called to the Racine zoo in September after $3,000 was stolen
during a burglary. Two days after the break-in, Patrick Torhorst's attorney
told police that the teen had admitted his involvement and that his father
would repay the money.