Houston tiger roaming neighborhood evokes memories of 400-pound tiger found living in NYC apartment

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It turns out there have been many Tiger kings over the years.

Houston made headlines this week after a tiger was found wandering a suburban neighborhood where it came face-to-face with an armed deputy before a man put the animal in the back seat of a white Jeep Cherokee and fled the scene. 

But nearly 20 years ago, an even more bizarre scene unfolded in a Harlem housing project. 

On Oct. 3, 2003, police discovered a 400-pound Siberian-Bengal tiger named Ming living in the Drew-Hamilton Houses. Its owner, Antoine Yates, had purchased the tiger three years earlier from a wild animal dealer. 

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Yates was being treated at the hospital for bite wounds he claimed were from a dog – but doctors suspected it was from something much bigger. 

Wildlife experts arrived at Yates’ apartment and Emergency Service Unit officer Martin Duffy shot the tiger with a tranquilizer dart while rappelling down a rope from the seventh floor. 

FILE: Ming, a mixed Siberian/Bengal tiger who was removed from a New York City apartment, lies tranquilized at Noah's Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary in Berlin Center, Ohio, to move him from his transport cage into another cage.  (AP)

Yates was arrested on charges of reckless endangerment and possession of a wild animal. He served three and a half months in jail. 

Ming was transferred to a Noah’s Lost Ark Animal Sanctuary in Berlin Center, Ohio where he lived for the remainder of his life until 2019.

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The whereabouts of the Houston tiger remained unknown on Wednesday and the Texas man who police allege owns the animal was released on bond. He was arrested Sunday night after evading officers following a brief pursuit, according to court documents. 

Victor Cuevas appears with his lawyer Michael Elliott after bonding out of jail, Wednesday, May 12, 2021, at the Fort Bend County Jail in Richmond, Texas.  (Houston Chronicle via AP)

An attorney for Victor Hugo Cuevas continued to insist to reporters on Wednesday that his client is not the tiger's owner and, like authorities, is worried about the animal's safety. Houston police spokesman John Cannon said his agency was still searching for the tiger. 

"We all love animals, including my client ... The public wants to know, we want to know too. We want to find India and we're going to work hard to do that," Elliott said. 

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Tigers are not allowed within Houston city limits unless the handler, such as a zoo, is licensed to have exotic animals. Texas has no statewide law forbidding private ownership of tigers and other exotic animals. 

The Associated Press contributed to this report.