Posted on 01/29/2008 6:55:18 PM PST by Mr. Brightside
S.F. police investigation into tiger attack "suspended" due to lack of evidence of taunting
Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
(01-29) 16:16 PST San Francisco - --
The San Francisco police investigation into the tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo has been "suspended" after a search earlier this month failed to turn up evidence that the victims taunted the animal or committed other crimes, police said Tuesday.
The case is being shelved "pending new witnesses being interviewed and/or new evidence being produced," according to a Police Department statement about the Christmas Day mauling that killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr. of San Jose.
On Jan. 16, police investigators searched the car and the cell phones belonging to the two San Jose brothers who survived the attack. They recovered no direct evidence to support a theory that either Paul Dhaliwal, 19, or Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23, had taunted the Siberian tiger before it escaped its exhibit and attacked.
Police found in the car a partly filled bottle of vodka and a kit commonly used to defeat drug testing, including a vial of unisex synthetic urine.
According to the search warrant statement, Paul Dhaliwal reportedly told Sousa's father that before the attack the three young men yelled and waved at the tiger while standing atop the 3-foot-high railing of the tiger's exhibit.
However, Paul Dhaliwal denied throwing anything into the enclosure or otherwise antagonizing the animal, and police were unable to find any evidence to contradict that account.
(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...
Amazing! Only in San Francisco. (You’d have to know a little about the city’s police chief.)
Get some warm weather into that place and we'll find the remains (if any).
Otherwise the only thing we know for sure is that a tiger who could leap 20 feet straight up managed to get out of its 12.5 foot compound and run around the zoo nekkid and free.
Waiting now for zoo officials to start apologizing.
/sarc
Get some warm weather into that place and we'll find the remains (if any).
Otherwise the only thing we know for sure is that a tiger who could leap 20 feet straight up managed to get out of its 12.5 foot compound and run around the zoo nekkid and free.
I’d like to be where Geragos, Esq. is tonight. Dude’s buying rounds all around!
I can’t believe you are still sticking to the 4th victim was eaten story.
The zoo has been very successful in their deceitful PR campaign to blame the victims.
Things will not go so smoothly for them under cross examination in the courtroom.
I thought that one of the boys admitted that they were standing on the rail and waving their arms at the tiger then it jumped through the bushes...
Waiving arms, roaring, and saying na-na-na to the tiger is not taunting.
The cops that shot the groom up in New York City just over 2 years ago had the very same problem ~ the perp who got away.
They're being prosecuted.
None of us here, nor in the print news media has gotten a word out of the young men.
Mooning the tiger with a big fat one might rather be called “tempting the tiger” eh.
taunt
–verb (used with object)
1. to reproach in a sarcastic, insulting, or jeering manner; mock.
2. to provoke by taunts; twit.
I guess as long as they were not sarcastic or insulting they're OK. Would the tiger understand sarcasm or insults?
Those two young men know what they did and will get to live with their memories, even if they escape responsibility for the death of their friend...
The press has been very sloppy in its use of the word “taunting.”
First they spread rumors about “taunting” with rocks and slingshots (which is illegal) and which the police later said were totally false.
Then the MSM continued to use the word “taunting” to discribe waiving hands and making animal noises, something that 20 percent of all zoo visitors do every day and is not illegal.
(sarcasm) I’m so impressed with police chief Heather Fong.Aaaaaaaaaarrrrrrrrrrggggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!
Police: Tiger attack victim was drinking, admitted taunting
SAN FRANCISCO, California (AP) -- One of the three victims of a San Francisco Zoo tiger attack was intoxicated and admitted to yelling and waving at the animal while standing atop the railing of the big cat enclosure, police say in court documents.
Paul Dhaliwal, 19, told the father of Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, who was killed, that the three yelled and waved at the tiger but insisted they never threw anything into its pen to provoke the cat, according to a search warrant affidavit obtained Thursday by the San Francisco Chronicle.
S.F. Zoo mauling investigation winding down (No evidence of taunting)
On General/Chat 01/19/2008 2:13:59 PM EST · 15 replies
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 1/19/08
S.F. Zoo mauling investigation winding down Jaxon Van Derbeken, Chronicle Staff Writer Saturday, January 19, 2008 The police investigation into the tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo will soon be reclassified as “inactive” **after a search failed to turn up evidence that the victims taunted the animal** or committed other crimes, authorities said Friday.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1956370/posts
... which is why we should not base our opinions on the headlines we read in the paper.
The fact the search came up with "no evidence" seems to suggest the claims made earlier are highly questionable.
The case drew national attention.
The city could see a big lawsuit coming.
The families could see big money coming.
The families got ‘lawyered up’, the lawyer got the evidence in the vehicle, and the boy’s statements thrown out.
The Zoo and City had little left.
So the case got suspended, due to (good lawyer) lack of evidence.
For the benefit of the families and the city and the zoo, there will be an out of court settlement, and life will go on.
Here is the story on how the SF police obtained the search warrant:
______________________________________________________
Tiger tale (SF Cops Fight Over Prosecution of Tiger Victims)
San Francisco Chronicle ^ | 1/20/08
Posted on 01/20/2008 10:19:13 AM EST
Tiger tale
Looks like Mayor Gavin Newsom’s shakeup of the San Francisco Police Department command staff is already being felt - starting with that big tiger-mauling case at the zoo.
A police source tells us that Jere Williams, the newly named captain of the general works detail investigating the tiger incident, called for a department briefing last week to get up to speed on the case....
Our source said Lindo quickly made it clear he saw no evidence the tiger attack victims had committed a crime. Then Lindo’s assigned replacement, Spillane, spoke up.
He contended that authorities needed only to show that the victims’ alleged behavior Christmas Day - standing on the railing outside the tiger grotto and waving and yelling at the animal - led to the attack that killed 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr.
In that case, he argued, the surviving brothers Kulbir and Paul Dhaliwal could be charged with manslaughter - much like authorities can file vehicular manslaughter charges against a driver who runs a stop sign and kills someone.
**And with that simple declaration, says our source, what appeared to be a dead-end case sprang back to life.** The very next day, police got a warrant allowing them to examine the brothers’ cell phones and search Kulbir Dhaliwal’s 2002 BMW.
http://www.freerepublic.com/focus/f-chat/1956647/posts
The brother’s statements were never “in.”
Waiving hands and making animal sounds in a zoo is not a crime.
Else they’d have the monkeys locked up all the time.
At the NC Zoo they had to erect a Plexiglass screen between the spectators and the monkeys. Seems the spectators starting throwing things at the monkeys, and monkey-see, monkey-do, the monkeys started throwing rocks and dirt at anyone who came up to the railing. Made me wonder who had the higher intelligence - it seems that the humans and monkeys were about the same level.
I visited this gigantic monkey/ape zoo in a city in West Germany. All the monkeys were behind plexiglass tossing feces at the visitors all the time.
Not once did I see a human being toss feces back at the monkeys.
Never underestimate our NC rednecks...
It’s that modern metrosexual style affected by all the guys in the SE these days ~ makes their britches too tight to reach the ammo!
The brothers said to one another inside the ambulance, as reported by one of the medics: “Don’t tell them what we did!”
That’s enough for a death sentence conviction in this cat’s courtroom. But then, we cats would have to recuse usselves. Too effing bad!
“Waiving arms, roaring, and saying na-na-na to the tiger is not taunting.”
I all due respect - with that attitude you will be in for a rude awakening some day.
I would suggest you try that in the wild and see what happens - just as a test.
When working and training professional dogs just the sound of “ssst” without any “body language” is considered aggressive and a taunt to the animal - if not restrained the dog would attack and bite or take you down with just their body.
“Waiving hands and making animal sounds in a zoo is not a crime.”
Not a crime - right - but still taunting.
Children should be taught to be respectful to captured animals - animals in general as well.
Observe and enjoy vs. getting ones ego involved about how they have the power to make the animal react.
What about The Second Tiger Theory? You can't believe one Tiger would be able to commit this crime alone!
“That’s o.k., there is no need for that anyway.
The Tiger already took care of it.: investigation, indictment, trial and finally punishment, all within 2 minutes.”
Heh - the old saying comes to mind - “Fu*k with the bull - you get the horns”.
What was the score? Tiger 3 - taunters 0?
“You go walking in the jungle and the first monkey to catch sight of you will toss feces at you.”
Where did this happen to you?
I have walked in the jungles of Malaysia, Indonesia, Cambodia, Thailand and more - that has not been my experience when encountering monkeys.
They tend to head for the tree tops and make a lot of noise until you have moved on out of their territory. Monkeys encountered in urban areas where they have lost their fear of humans just want a handout or will steal it from you if you don’t provide it.
Taunting them could provoke an attack.
You mean Chief Thong?
“I would suggest you try that in the wild and see what happens - just as a test.”
The critical difference being that this was in a ZOO, and waving your arms and going “nah-nah-nah” shouldn’t get you eaten, period.
This serves to validate my original position. The zoo is exclusively culpable here, and worsens its position by fabricating ‘taunting’ scenarios here.
Correct!
It should just provide you and the other spectators loads of laughs when the animal lunges & bounces off the barriers. Even more fun, if an electric fence is provided for added amusement.
No, it shouldn’t get you eaten, period.
You’re being redundant. We already settled that part of the equation.
What it SHOULD get you is horsewhipped for being an ass in public, and mindlessly teasing the impotently confined critters.
“waving your arms and going “nah-nah-nah” shouldn’t get you eaten, period.
Correct!
It should just provide you and the other spectators loads of laughs when the animal lunges & bounces off the barriers. Even more fun, if an electric fence is provided for added amusement.”
I think you and I would get along fine ...
I was taught by my grandmother (Victorian - circa. 1880’s) to respect - elders - life in all it’s forms - and authority. That I had a private voice and actions (I could yell and sing in private) and that I had a public voice and actions - to be used in the presence of others - known and unknown - i.e., respectful and moderate in volume and tone.
That I could also challenge authority in an appropriate context - i.e., after the fact.
Those simple rules have served me well all my 65 years on this planet.
I am also guilty of taunting animals in the SF Zoo. I got a lesson in humility from g’ma afterwards - not negative to my spirit - but an object lesson.
I think I was seven years old.
My point is that we seem to lack respect for life.
We take animals out of the wild - where they were doing just fine - and subject them to what we would never put up with ourselves.
Our kids play loud music and act out their frustrations in public ...
Ahhhhh I am not going to go on - you either get it or not.
Agreed! The loss of life is regrettable -
Not prosecutable. Ad not even a big deal. A recent study showed that 20 percent of all zoo visitors "taunted" animals by making animal sounds at them, KAWing at the eagle, HISSing at the snake, ROARing at the lion.
If wild animals cannot handle being teased in this way, how would they make it in the real world?
The police reported that the brothers were cooperative.
Thought not.
If wild animals cannot handle being teased in this way, how would they make it in the real world?
I think we already found this out, by eating you.
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