Law enforcement officials in Houston, Texas, are searching for a tiger and a man charged with murder who was released on bond after a Sunday chase.
Police received a call at around 8 p.m. that a tiger was on the loose in a residential neighborhood, Commander Ron Borza told reporters during a Monday press conference.
An off-duty deputy went to the residence where the Bengal tiger was seen, and he engaged in a brief confrontation with the person living in the home, the animal’s apparent owner, Borza said. The man believed to be the owner of the animal has yet to be identified by police.
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The deputy was identified by local news outlet KPRC as Wes Manion, who serves in Waller County. Manion told the outlet that he had his weapon drawn but that the man urged him not to shoot the tiger, taking it inside the residence.
When Houston police responded to the scene, the man put the tiger in a white Jeep Grand Cherokee and drove away. Authorities chased him briefly, according to Borza, but the man escaped.
The man was released on bond in November for a murder charge, according to Borza, but he gave few details on that case.
Apparently there’s a tiger loose on my parents’ West Houston street? pic.twitter.com/TgdIiPSPKx
— robwormald (@robwormald) May 10, 2021
Police have yet to charge the man in relation to the Sunday incident.
“I don’t want to release any name until we get hard charges on the suspect,” Borza added.
It is against city ordinance for wild animals to be kept inside a residence. Violating the ordinance is a Class C misdemeanor, according to Borza.
The man is also believed to have two monkeys, though they were not found in the residence. Borza added that keeping the monkeys in the Houston residence would not have been illegal if they weighed less than 30 pounds.
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Borza said the vehicle had a paper plate and did not give a license number but said, “Obviously, if you see a Cherokee with a big tiger in it, it’d be good to call us.”
“If that tiger was to get out and to start doing some damage yesterday, I’m sure one of these citizens would have shot the tiger,” Borza said. “We had plenty of neighbors out here with guns, and we don’t want to see that. It’s not the animal’s fault. It’s the breeder’s fault.”
