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Case #1774 Rating: 2.0 out of 5
Possesion of wild animal - tiger and alligator seized
New York, NY (US)Incident Date: Saturday, Oct 4, 2003
County: New York
Disposition: Convicted
Case Images: 4 files available
Defendant/Suspect: Antoine Yates
Case Updates: 2 update(s) available
31 year old Antione Yates faces two counts of alleged possession of a wild animal. His home was searched after he went to the hospital reporting that he was bit by a pit bull. The animal that bit him was a Tiger, a 4 year old orange and white Siberian-Bengal mix that Yates had kept in the fifth-floor apartment in Harlem since he was a 6-week-old cub. Also found in the apartment was a 5-foot Alligator. Both animals were tranqualized and removed to animal sanctuaries by animal control officers, police, and Bronx Zoo workers.
Assistant District Attorney Jeremy Saland said Yates was a "man trying to create an animal sanctuary in his apartment." Saland added, "It's clear this defendant's actions were extremely reckless." Yates is also facing charges of alleged reckless endangerment. A conviction of reckless endangerment carries a sentence of up to seven years.
Yates was bitten by Ming after a playful, mock-fight routine he called "Buddy-Buddy" resulting in a cut in Yates leg right down to the bone. Yates kitten named Shadow showed up and Ming went after the kitten, who had lived in the apartment for about a week.
Yates has been charged with reckless endangerment in the Manhattan Criminal Court, a felony and the possession of a wild animal. He could face 7 years in prison if convicted.
The tiger had complete access to Yates 5th floor, public housing, 7 room apartment in the Drew Hamilton Houses at 2430 Adam Clayton Powell Jr. Boulevard, Harlem, NY. The tiger has been sent to Noah's Lost Ark wildlife preserve in Berlin Center, Ohio and the caiman (alligator), named Al, sent to a sanctuary in Indiana.
Another tiger, some cubs, 2 Rottweilers, rabbits and a tranatula were also taken from Yates' apartment. The police are still searching for a lion who had also been kept in Yates apartment. Yates told police the lion was dead, but interviews with his family have led police to suspect the lion is still alive and is being kept somewhere in Brooklyn, NY.
Yates had taken good care of the animals. He has taken in puppies and broken-winged birds from early childhood. Over the years his taste grew more exotic, neighbors reported his collecton came to include reptiles, a monkey or two and even a hyena.
Yates obtained the tiger from Kenneth and Nancy Kfraft, owners of the BEARCAT Hollow animal park in Racine, Minnesota. The US Fish and Wildlife Service is currently investigating the Krafts in connection with alleged illegal trade and transport of federally protected species. The Krafts were recenytly indicted in Minneapolis for allegedly making an illegal purchase of another tiger, named "Como", who was later destroyed in 2001 after biting a small girl. Documents show that Yates obtained the lion from Ken Krafts.
Case UpdatesA New York tiger owner was handed a 5-month jail sentence by a judge who said he considered the man dangerous. 37 year old Antoine Yates, who kept the 400-pound wild cat in his Harlem apartment, was also placed on probation for five years by Manhattan Supreme Court Justice Budd Goodman. Goodman said a probation report he had received said Yates had shown a "a lack of remorse" over keeping the tiger in the apartment and "could represent a danger to the community."
Yates' lawyer, Ray Colon, blasted the judge at sentencing. "If his mother had been Martha Stewart, not Martha Yates, he would not be in jail. He'd be doing 500 hours of community service in the Bronx Zoo. Yates told the judge he was sorry. "My intention was never to hurt the public. I apologize. I hurt my mother deeply. I did learn a lesson from it," he said.
Yates had lived in a seven-room apartment with his mother, her foster care children and a Siberian-Bengal tiger named Ming. The judge said the probation report indicated Yates was "delusional" and talked about opening his own wild game park.
Ming was eventually shipped to an animal refuge in Ohio but Yates says he hopes to get his tiger back and open his own animal sanctuary in upstate New York. | Source: Yahoo News - Oct 8, 2004
Update posted on Nov 2, 2004 - 10:02AM |
A police source said that cops are hunting for a lion Yates kept in the same five-room apartment. Although the source said Yates told authorities the lion had died, interviews with Yates' family has prompted detectives to believe that the lion might be alive in Brooklyn.
Yates is charged with reckless endangerment. After his arrest, authorities shipped Ming to an Ohio sanctuary and Al, a type of crocodile, to Indiana.
Ming's caretakers have resolutely proclaimed the tiger will remain in Ohio, even as Yates' friends in Harlem pleaded for the feline's release. | | Update posted on Oct 17, 2003 - 7:57PM |
References- Fox News
- The New York Times
- WMUR Channel 9
- Animal News Center
- New York Newsday
- Twin Cities Pioneer Press
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