A San Francisco judge ruled late Tuesday that the San Francisco Police Department has the legal right to search and examine the car and two cell phones owned by the surviving victims of the Christmas day mauling at San Francisco Zoo, said Sgt. Neville Gittens.
A police investigation will partly seek to determine whether a 250-pound Siberian tiger was taunted when it escaped its grotto on Christmas Day and fatally mauled Carlos Sousa Jr., 17, and injured brothers Amritpal and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 19 and 23, of San Jose.
The Dhaliwals' attorney Mark Geragos has maintained the boys did not taunt the tiger. City lawyers have said they expect the attack victims to sue the city and zoo.
On Wednesday, a Santa Clara County Superior Court judge will preside over a hearing to determine whether the San Francisco city attorney's office will be allowed to inspect the Dhaliwals' cell phones and car for possible evidence, allegedly pointing to alcohol and/or drug use by the victims at the zoo, according to the county's city attorney's office.
— Bay City News
