Subject: [NEXTEL-1] OT: A Tigers Tale

From: [email-masked]
Date: Mon, 06 Oct 2003 02:06:14 -0400

You have got to love the guys from 2 Truck. (Emergency Service Unit Truck # 2
assigned to Northern Manhattan)
They always get their Man (or Cat in this case).

10/05/03

Only In NYC-
Cops bag big, bad cat
in Harlem high-rise apt.
By LISA L. COLANGELO, ALICE McQUILLAN,
KERRY BURKE and TRACY CONNOR
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITERS
It was a jungle in there.

A 400-pound tiger that mauled its animal-loving
owner was lugged out of a Harlem housing
project yesterday after a commando-style
operation by police.

"I saw him eye to eye, to say the least," said
Emergency Service Unit cop Martin Duffy, who
rappelled down the side of the building with a
tranquilizer gun and shot the roaring beast
through a window.

"He charged twice and I shot him [with the
tranquilizer dart]. He charged a last time and
broke through the glass" before the dart took
effect, Duffy said.

A half-hour later, the slumbering cat, named
Ming, was carried out of the Drew Hamilton
public housing complex at 2430 Adam Clayton
Powell Jr. Blvd. on a tarp. He was held in a city
animal shelter overnight and will be taken to a
Cleveland wildlife preserve today, officials said.

Later, a gator
A 3-foot caiman alligator, called Al, was also
taken from the five-bedroom apartment.

The animals' owner, Antoine Yates, 37, was
tracked down at the University of Pennsylvania
Hospital in Philadelphia about 8 p.m. and taken
into custody, cops said. He was charged with
reckless endangerment.

"I take this from my heart because I feel for animals so much," Yates told
WABC-Channel 7 News by telephone.
Officials said the urban spinoff of "Wild Kingdom" began two years ago when Yates
brought the male Bengal-Siberian tiger home to his family's fifth-floor apartment
as a cub.
The exotic pet was an open secret in the building.

Downstairs neighbor Valerie Tompkins said she repeatedly complained to the Housing
Authority about tiger urine leaking from upstairs.

An agency official acknowledged a complaint about odors but said he didn't know it
involved a tiger.
Tompkins' daughter, Janaya Smith, 9, said a little girl who lived in the Yates'
apartment invited her to visit one day.
"My friend said, 'Wanna see my tiger?'" Janaya said.

A second tiger, some bear cubs, two Rottweilers, rabbits and a tarantula also
lived there at the time, she said.
Most of the family moved to Philadelphia in June, leaving behind Antoine Yates,
Ming and the alligator.
The clandestine zookeeping came to light after Ming attacked Yates on Wednesday as
he tried to stop the tiger from lunging at a kitten that skittered past his room,
said his brother, Aaron Yates.

"He blocked the door with his body and the tiger attacked him," Aaron Yates said.
"The tiger bit his leg and rested on top of him."

Yates went to Harlem Hospital, saying he had been attacked by a pit bull, but
doctors didn't believe the bites came from a dog.
Toss him a few chickens

While being treated, he asked his brother to feed the tiger. Aaron Yates agreed,
tossing in a few chickens and slamming the door.

An anonymous call to police about the tiger led authorities to Yates' apartment
late Friday. They drilled a hole in the door and saw the giant feline walk by.

Meanwhile, Yates bolted from the hospital - yanking the IV out of his arm, one
source said - and headed to Philly.
Yesterday, wildlife experts with the Bronx Zoo, Nassau County Society for the
Prevention of Cruelty to Animals and the Center for Animal Care and Control came
back with tranquilizer darts, a cage and raw meat.
At 4:27 p.m., Duffy rappelled down a rope from a seventh-floor window to the Yates
unit and aimed the dart gun through the window.

The tiger roared so loudly it startled people outside, and even Duffy flinched.
"We usually deal with dogs and snakes," he said later. "Once we had a deer. This
is my first tiger."
Yates' family defended the big-cat fancier.

"He just has a love for animals," said his sister, Cynthia Yates. "There's nothing
wrong with that."
http://www.nydailynews.com/front/story/123793p-111133c.html