By Lisa Fernandez
 

COURT FILING SAYS CITY IS BLAMELESS IN FATAL MAULING

San Francisco’s city attorney denies the city was in the wrong the day two San Jose brothers were mauled by a tiger at the zoo.

In a brief set of documents signed May 8, City Attorney Dennis Herrera and adjuster Joe Abad said there is “no indication of liability” by the city and county in the Christmas Day tiger attack that killed Carlos Sousa Jr. and injured Amritpal “Paul” and Kulbir Dhaliwal.

The Dhaliwal brothers on March 26 filed a claim for damages against San Francisco - a first step to a lawsuit.

Herrera instead referred the brothers to the San Francisco Zoological Society, the non-profit organization that runs the zoo, which is on city land.

City attorney spokesman Matt Dorsey said this “deny and refer” is routine, adding that the zoological society is insured. A zoo representative was unavailable for immediate comment.

No one was charged with a crime after the attack by a 250-pound Siberian tiger named Tatiana, but authorities said they believe the tiger was provoked. It is unknown how Tatiana escaped from the enclosure. Police shot and killed the tiger.

Dorsey said Sousa’s family has not filed a claim.

The Dhaliwals, represented by powerhouse attorneys Mark Geragos and Shepard Kopp, have six months to file a lawsuit. Neither attorney was available for comment.

In their claim, the Dhaliwals accused the public relations firm of Sam Singer, hired by the zoo, of making false statements about them after the
attack. The claim also states that San Francisco and the zoo should have been able to prevent the tiger’s escape.
At the time of the attack, the retaining wall in the tiger grotto was about four feet shorter than industry standards, and the zoo has spent $1.7 million on safety renovations since the attack. A national group that accredits zoos concluded in a report that poor training and short staffing added to the tragedy.

Since the tiger attack, Paul Dhaliwal has also been arrested on unrelated charges that he stole electronic equipment and video games at Target stores in San Leandro, Hayward and Livermore between March 24 and March 27.

By John Coté

SAN JOSE - One of the two brothers who survived a Christmas Day tiger attack at the San Francisco Zoo was charged today with misdemeanor battery on a police officer stemming from a drunken scuffle with San Jose police in September.

Paul Dhaliwal, 19, was not in Santa Clara County Superior Court when the charge was added to misdemeanor counts of public intoxication and resisting arrest he already faced.

His brother Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23, is also charged with public intoxication and resisting arrest in the Sept. 7 incident, which happened when police intervened after seeing the brothers chase two men near their San Jose home, according to court documents.

Paul Dhaliwal is accused of hitting an officer in the chest with his forearm as the officer tried to restrain him, leading to the battery charge, prosecutor Stuart Scott said. Dhaliwal stopped resisting arrest only when an officer held a stun gun to his neck, according to a police report.

Kulbir Dhaliwal cursed at officers while kicking the security partition in a squad car, forcing police to pull him out and put him in leg restraints, the police report says.

It is unclear from the court documents why the Dhaliwal brothers were allegedly chasing the two men, whom police did not locate.

The brothers are scheduled to return to court Feb. 13. Scott called their alleged behavior “needlessly belligerent.”

Both brothers have pleaded not guilty. Paul Dhaliwal’s attorney, Cory Fuller, declined to comment about the case.

Both Dhaliwal brothers were wounded Christmas Day when a Siberian tiger at the zoo escaped from its outdoor grotto and killed Paul Dhaliwal’s friend Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, of San Jose.

At the time of the escape, Paul Dhaliwal was on felony probation after pleading no contest Oct. 31 to reckless driving, driving under the influence, resisting an officer and providing a false name, court records show.

He was arrested after leading a Santa Clara County sheriff’s deputy on a chase of up to 140 mph before crashing into a tree in San Jose, according to a police report. At one point he drove over traffic cones placed near a Caltrans work crew, the report said.

Dhaliwal tried to run away when an officer attempted to handcuff him, and he later identified himself to police as his brother Kulbir, the police report said.

Paul Dhaliwal also has an outstanding misdemeanor case for underage drinking, prosecutors and his attorney said. A separate misdemeanor case for public drunkenness was dismissed in July after Dhaliwal attended 10 Alcoholics Anonymous meetings, court records show.

By Sandra Gonzales

Pointing blame at the San Francisco Zoo, a high-profile lawyer retained by the two San Jose brothers who survived the Christmas Day tiger rampage said Tuesday night that the zoo “showed an utter disregard for safety.”

“The zoo was grossly negligent,” said Los Angeles attorney Mark Geragos. “It is clear that the zoo is to blame, and that the zoo ignored every contingency.”

Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23, were released from San Francisco General Hospital on Saturday, but have yet to speak in public about the mauling and the chaos that ensued during the tiger attack that killed their 17-year-old friend Carlos Sousa Jr. of San Jose.

Tuesday, however, Geragos, who has represented Michael Jackson and Scott Peterson, said the brothers tried get help for more than 30 minutes before emergency calls were made. “The story they tell me is extremely disturbing.”

Zoo officials initially thought one of the victims was making something up when he told them a tiger was on the loose and had bitten him, according to transcripts released last week.

“There was a substantial period of time when the tiger was wandering around and they did nothing to help the three kids,” he said.

“It would be premature to know what happened in the Christmas Day incident because the police have not finalized their investigation,” said Sam Singer, the new spokesman for the San Francisco Zoo. “I make it a rule not to speculate on a defense attorney hypothesis.”

Geragos said he doesn’t know how the tiger got out, but when it did, it attacked Kulbir Dhaliwal first. Carlos tried to intervene, and then the tiger turned on him, Geragos said. Both brothers tried to free Carlos, but they weren’t able to, so they tried to get help. Geragos, who is exploring legal options, including filing a lawsuit, gave the following account: The brothers returned to a cafe about 300 yards away where they had eaten earlier. The men pleaded to be let inside, but no one let them in because the zoo was closing. When they saw a female security officer, she, too, failed to help them, despite the fact that Kulbir Dhaliwal was bleeding. “She was completely diffident,” Geragos said.

He said it took about 45 minutes from the time the trio was first attacked to when help arrived. During that time, the brothers were attacked again.

He also cited the deficiencies of the enclosure. Police last week said the escape of Tatiana, a 350-pound Siberian tiger, was not intentionally aided by humans, while zoo officials said they believe she escaped her grotto by scaling a 12-foot, 5-inch wall that was nearly 4 feet shorter than industry recommendations. That deficiency apparently escaped notice the last time the 1940s-era exhibit was inspected.

“The zoo has been on notice. There’s a young man that’s dead, my clients severely injured and a beautiful tiger dead, when none of it needed to have happened,” he said.

Geragos denied speculation that the animal was taunted and said the brothers had just gone to the zoo to visit the animals.

He said the two brothers are extremely distraught over what happened. “They are devastated about what happened to Carlos.”

Geragos has represented a long list of celebrities and others, including former U.S. Rep. Gary Condit, pop star Michael Jackson, hip-hop star Nate Dogg and actress Winona Ryder. He also represented Scott Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his wife, Laci Peterson.

By MARCUS BARAM

The brothers who survived the vicious tiger attacks at San Francisco Zoo last week have hired legal pit bull Mark Geragos in anticipation of filing a lawsuit against the zoo.

Geragos, who is known for his roster of high-profile clients from Michael Jackson and Winona Ryder to Scott Peterson and Susan McDougal, is already making claims about what he says is the zoo’s “utter disregard for safety.” His new clients, brothers Paul and Kulbir Dhaliwal, were released from San Francisco General Hospital Saturday and are recovering from injuries sustained in the attack that killed their friend, Carlos Sousa Jr.

“There are some very disturbing facts yet to come out about what happened,” Geragos told ABCNews.com. “One of the brothers had absolutely no reason to be attacked. After Carlos was attacked, this brother ran to the zoo café and they would not let him in. The same guys who sold him nachos wouldn’t let him back in. They locked the doors. Thirty minutes later, he was attacked by the tiger.”

An employee barricaded in the zoo’s Terrace Café reportedly made the first 911 calls, saying that one of the brothers was screaming outside. According to police logs obtained by the San Francisco Chronicle, officers were initially skeptical of claims of an attack: “Zoo personnel dispatch now say there are two males whom the zoo thinks are 800 [mentally unstable] and making something up. But one is in fact bleeding from the back of the head.”

According to those logs, firefighters and police officers were forced to wait outside for as long as six minutes by zoo security guards enforcing an emergency lockdown.

Geragos also claims that the zoo’s security staff was missing in action. “Has anybody even talked to this woman who was in the security golf cart? She was motoring around in between the first and second attacks. What was she doing?”

In addition, Geragos cited the recent revelation that Tatiana, the 350-pound Siberian tiger, escaped her enclosure because the 12-foot, 5-inch wall was nearly 4 feet below industry recommendations.

Geragos cited a previous incident in which zookeeper Lori Komejan had the flesh chewed off her arm while she was feeding Tatiana in December 2006 as indicative of the zoo’s negligence. Komejan filed her own suit against the zoo after that incident, and the zoo spent $250,000 on safety upgrades. The zoo is a partnership between the city and the nonprofit San Francisco Zoological Society.

“Clearly, they were on notice after that,” said Geragos. “They were deficient on virtually every level. To say that the zoo was mismanaged is an understatement.”

Geragos said he was with the brothers last night “and they are absolutely devastated by what happened to Carlos. They are grieving like you would not believe.”

The brothers have not spoken publicly about the incident or about reports that they and Carlos may have taunted Tatiana. “We talked about it, and the whole experience was awful, but they’re not ready to say anything publicly yet,” said Geragos. “They’re still grieving, and they’re angry at the zoo.”

The lawyer also claimed that many details have been misreported, saying that reports of the trio taunting the tiger were “an urban legend.”

Those claims were vigorously disputed by Sam Singer, a well-known crisis-management spokesman hired by the zoo. “On the face of it, his claims appear to be false and most are based on misinformation,” he says. “If you take a look at the actual facts, you’ll have a hard time proving them (Geragos’s claims).”

The zoo, which reopens Thursday since closing after the attacks, could also face heavy fines from regulators and even be stripped of its exhibitor license. The U.S. Department of Agriculture sent inspectors and could impose fines on the zoo.

When the zoo reopens, the tigers and other large cats will not be on exhibit in the outdoor enclosures, a zoo spokesman said. The tigers will be moved to another location within the facility where they will have a safe space to exercise.

The zoo could also face criminal charges, based upon the results of a police investigation.

“They’re going to try to determine how the animal got out and whether that violated our regulations,” USDA spokesman Jim Rogers told The Associated Press. “A facility must have a sufficient barrier between the viewing public and the animals.”

Zoo officials or spokespeople could not be reached for comment on New Year’s Day.

Monday, a spokesman announced that the zoo was working with the city’s Recreation & Park Department to design a new security system for the tiger and lion grottos, which should be ready in 30 days. The zoo has also invited the Association of Zoos and Aquariums to tour and inspect its facilities, according to the spokesman.