Evidence in car may point to drug use, tiger taunting in zoo case

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SAN FRANCISCO -- The San Francisco City Attorney's Office contends the car of the two brothers who survived the tiger attack at San Francisco Zoo contains "apparent evidence of drug use" and may have evidence linking the men to objects found inside the tiger's enclosure, according to court documents.That could help show the victims pelted or taunted the tiger that escaped and killed a San Jose teen, the documents state. The survivors have denied any wrongdoing.While a police investigation into such accusations has been described as "inactive" by city officials, any evidence that the survivors teased the big cat could be used to defend the city and zoo against any lawsuits filed by the victims, said a spokesman for the City Attorney's Office. Also in the new documents is an account by a zoo security guard, who said two young men in hooded sweatshirts sought to take the car from the zoo parking lot the day after the Christmas Day attack. They were denied entry by security guards, according to a statement a guard filed Thursday in San Francisco Superior Court.The young men who tried to retrieve the car described themselves as friends of Paul Dhaliwal, 19, and Kulbir Dhaliwal, 23 -- brothers who were injured in the attack that killed Paul Dhaliwal's close friend, 17-year-old Carlos Sousa Jr.After security guards refused requests to release the car, the two hooded young men asked if they could retrieve belongings from the black BMW M3, including a cell phone, according to the statement by Lamar Harris-Walker, the guard. The two young men left the security post immediately after they were asked for their names and contact information, Harris-Walker said. Those disclosures come as the City Attorney's Office is seeking a court order allowing them to search the Dhaliwal brothers' car and cell phones, which police confiscated after the attack. A hearing was scheduled in San Francisco on the issue Friday, although attorneys for the Dhaliwals contend state law requires the issue be decided by a judge in Santa Clara County, where the two brothers reside. Their attorney, Mark Geragos, did not return a call seeking comment on the latest allegation raised by the city attorney in court documents. Sousa's mother said Thursday that Paul Dhaliwal told her they did not tease the tiger or throw anything into its outdoor exhibit. Sources have told The Chronicle that Paul Dhaliwal was intoxicated and had smoked marijuana before the attack; his brother had been drinking and also using marijuana, the sources said.Those documents do not specify what "foreign objects" were found inside the tiger grotto shortly after the incident. The documents also do not elaborate on the potential evidence of drug use but say that a half-empty bottle of clear alcohol was also visible in the car. E-mail John Cote at jcote(at)sfchronicle.com. (Distributed by Scripps Howard News Service, www.scrippsnews.com.)