Tiger Out On Casual Stroll In Texas Lands 'Owner' In Jail But Lawyer Claims Animal Wasn't His
The incident reportedly took place in the Energy Corridor, 18 miles west of downtown Houston, Texas. The tiger was seen on a barely minutes-long walk before the 'owner' after being confronted by an armed resident fled with the tiger in tow.
Right now we're all aching to step out of our homes and head out on our beloved evening walks. The last thing you'd probably imagine is running into a Royal Bengal tiger sharing your neighbour's lawn for a quick sniff and dump. But as popular culture (and legit new reports) would have us believe, this isn't entirely unimaginable, not going by the following video at least.
Side note, we're skipping the obvious Joe Exotic memes.
The incident reportedly took place in the Energy Corridor, 18 miles west of downtown Houston, Texas. The tiger was seen on a barely minutes-long walk before the 'owner' after being confronted by an armed resident fled with the tiger in tow.
@joerogan you were right about TX owning so many Tigers! This evening in the middle of Houston in my sister¡¯s neighborhood! Tiger was not hurt. @tedcruz pic.twitter.com/36GrdZK9s3
¡ª AWeb13 (@AlainaW69265029) May 10, 2021
Here's another angle:
Apparently there's a tiger loose on my parents' West Houston street? pic.twitter.com/TgdIiPSPKx
¡ª robwormald (@robwormald) May 10, 2021
Also read: Havana Zoo Welcomes Rare White Tiger And Four Bengal Cubs After 20 Years Of Breeding
¡°Get the fuck back inside. Fuck you and your fucking tiger," the resident had allegedly said.
"It was very scary because this is a very family-oriented community, and you see lots of kids and baby strolling," Jose Ramos, another resident told KHOU 11. "And people taking their pets, dogs and walking them. So again, the first thing I was thought was to alert the community so everybody would stay home."
Identifying the 'handler' in the video as 26-year-old Victor Hugo Cuevas, Houston Police tweeted he'd been charged with felony evading arrest for fleeing from HPD patrol officers. Cuevas has been taken into custody in Fort Bend County Jail and 'the whereabouts of the tiger are not yet known.'
UPDATE #2: Victor Hugo Cuevas is in custody. The whereabouts of the tiger are not yet known.
¡ª Houston Police (@houstonpolice) May 11, 2021
Anyone with information on the tiger is urged to contact HPD Major Offenders at 713-308-3100.#hounews https://t.co/TkaAtK45MC
Meanwhile, Michael Elliott, Cuevas' lawyer, has alleged that the tiger seen in the West Houston neighbourhood is not his client's. "HPD was in such a hurry to wrap it and find their guy that they just assumed because my client was the one who caught this tiger, who went out and go it and brought it back into safety, everyone is just assuming that he is the owner of the tiger," he said.
"He's already been convicted, which is a shame," KHOU 11 quoted him as saying.
Also read: Seven Tigers Are 'Missing' From Rajasthan's Ranthambore Since A Year, Activists ConcernedTIGER IN HOUSTON? A #KHOU11 viewer spotted one tonight and shot video of it. @JMilesKHOU has the story. https://t.co/48cvbN5PTz#HOUNews pic.twitter.com/DUX6RiJRlM
¡ª KHOU 11 News Houston (@KHOU) May 10, 2021
This is Jose Ramos ¡ª he¡¯s the neighbor who FIRST spotted the tiger across the street from his house in a yard ¡ª called 911, snapped a pic of the big cat CAREFULLY, and then alerted his neighbors by posting on neighborhood blog. @KHOU #Htownrush pic.twitter.com/ewMHQ0A2qs
¡ª Michelle Choi (@MichelleKHOU) May 10, 2021
More information awaited.
Tanya Sirohi is the Trending section lead at Indiatimes. She likes to write on a range of topics including viral stories, UFO sightings and exploring life on Mars.
