NEW YORK (AP) - The law of the jungle briefly ruled in a subway station when

a token clerk was slapped in the head by a pet monkey.

Kevin Brown was scratched three times after he told the monkey's owner he could not

bring the leashed simian into the station, said Charles Seaton, Transit Authority

spokesman.

"It's possible the monkey was being playful or it could've been out of anger,"

Seaton said. The owner did not set the monkey on Brown, Seaton said.

Brown was inspecting a turnstile on July 7 when the man and his monkey, named Cheetah,

entered the station at 34th Street.

When asked to leave, the man agreed, but Cheetah suddenly scratched Brown, who received

a tetanus shot at a hospital.