Bay Area pals smash 10,000-year-old mammoth tusk in museum

March 17, 2026

These Bay Area men have mammoth problems.

Two friends from Petaluma have been arrested after smashing a woolly mammoth tusk while roughhousing at the Ancient Ozarks Natural History Museum in Missouri.

The tusk was around 10,000 years old and said to be worth $200,000. The men were arrested and booked on one count each of first-degree property damage.

Brett Howard, 46, and Todd Azevedo, 48, were visiting the museum on March 8 when one of the men hopped on the other’s shoulders.

The man on top allegedly then reached out to the 200-pound tusk, causing it to fall to the ground and shatter into multiple pieces.

The man was attempting to hang on the tusk, 1011Now reported.

An employee at the museum witnessed the incident on security monitor around 10:50 a.m., according to reports. When the employee tried to make contact with the two men, they bolted, but were later arrested and charged.

The men have since been bailed out on $15,000 bond. If convicted, they each face up to four years in prison, The Kansas City Star reported.

Per the conditions of their bond, the men cannot have contact with each other or visit any Top of the Rock or Bass Pro property in the United States.

The museum is part of Big Cedar Lodge, owned by Johnny Morris, founder and CEO of Bass Pro Shops.

Taney County Sheriff Brad Daniels told SFGATE that he mourned the lost fossil.

“It’s a one-of-a-kind artifact, and you can’t get another one. There are still some large pieces, but there was a lot that broke off. It’s not replaceable,” he said. “You wouldn’t think grown men would do that type of thing. But here we are.”