Atlanta, GA 1/19/2008 3:55:19 AM
Victim of San Francisco Zoo Attack May Have Been Drunk
19 year old Paul Dhaliwal admitted to the father of 17 year old Carlos Sousa Jr. that the three friends attacked at the San Francisco Zoo were drunk. He says that the they were “yelling and waving” at the tiger will standing on the railing around the big cat exhibit. He denies, however, ever throwing anything at the animal to provoke it.
Inspector Valerie Matthews says, “As a result of this investigation, (police believe) that the tiger may have been taunted/agitated by its eventual victims.” She said that “this factor contributed to the tiger escaping from its enclosure and attacking its victims.”
Toxicology reports reveal that Dhaliwal had twice the legal amount of alcohol in his system. His brother Kulbir and Sousa had alcohol in their blood, but were under the legal limit. All three had marijuana in their systems.