Texas Man Back in Custody After Pet Tiger Was Found Roaming Around Houston Neighborhood

After residents discovered a pet tiger roaming around a Houston neighborhood, a Texas man on bail for a murder charge was returned to custody Monday.

According to Houston police, Victor Hugo Cuevas, 26, was arrested again Monday night and charged with felony evading detention.

Police claimed that the tiger belonged to Cuevas, but his attorney challenged the authenticity of that claim.

According to police, video from the encounter on Sunday night shows the tiger confronting an armed off-duty Waller County sheriff’s deputy. The deputy can be heard shouting at Cuevas to get the animal back inside during the encounter.

There were no shots fired.

Cuevas placed the animal in a white Jeep Cherokee and pulled away when officers arrived, Houston police Cmdr. Ron Borza said during a news conference Monday that Cuevas escaped after a brief chase.

The tiger’s whereabouts are unknown, according to police. Borza had previously stated that the main concern was locating Cuevas and the tiger, “because what I don’t want him to do is harm that tiger. We have plenty of places we can take that tiger and keep it safe and give it a home for the rest of its life.”

Cuevas’ lawyer, Michael W. Elliott, said that he did not believe Cuevas was the tiger’s owner or that he was caring for the animal. The attorney also said that he was unsure if it was Cuevas who was seen on the incident recordings.

Elliot said, “People are making a lot of assumptions in this particular case. Maybe he might be the hero out there who caught the tiger that was in the neighborhood.”

Cuevas was out on bail after being charged with murder in the fatal shooting outside a restaurant in Fort Bend County in 2017. He has claimed self-defense and says that he is not guilty of the murder charge.

According to Borza, Cuevas also had two monkeys in his house.

In Houston, owning a monkey that weighs less than 30 pounds is not illegal. Tigers are not permitted inside Houston city limits unless the handler is a licensed exotic animal handler, such as a zoo. Private possession of tigers and other exotic animals is illegal in Texas, according to state law.

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