Man seen with tiger in west Houston indicted for evading arrest

Thursday, August 19, 2021

Murder suspect releases emotional tribute to India the tiger

Victor Cuevas wrote about his original plans for the tiger, who he called "my best friend, my teammate, my workout buddy, my dance partner, my happiness."

HOUSTON, Texas (KTRK) -- The man who made national headlines with a pet tiger was indicted by grand jury on Wednesday for evading arrest.

Victor Cuevas, 26, was arrested in May after he was seen on video with a tiger in west Houston. Cuevas was charged with felony evading arrest after allegedly fleeing from an officer with the Houston Police Department.

At the time of the incident, Cuevas was out of jail for a murder charge unrelated to the tiger incident. The murder charge tied to Cuevas involves an alleged shooting at a shopping center in Fort Bend County.

Note: The video above is from a previous ABC13 report published on June 3 on an emotion tribute Cuevas wrote about the tiger. To read more, click here.

According to records, Cuevas was accused of shooting and killing a man in July 2017. His bond was revoked after the tiger escaped and was charged with evading police.

He's expected back in court on Nov. 16.

Victor Cuevas, whose main claim to fame as the man handling a roaming tiger in Houston, did something that he's done countless times in the past. So, what's next after his latest bond out of jail?

Cuevas caught the attention of many of his Instagram followers in June when he posted an emotional photo caption about the Tiger, whose name is India.

He called the big cat "my best friend, my teammate, my workout buddy, my dance partner, my happiness."

Cuevas paired the tribute with never-before-seen photos and videos of the tiger, including a video of him feeding India out of a bottle as a cub, a video of him dancing with India outside and a video of India chasing Cuevas around the house.

"India was my pride and joy," Cuevas wrote. "Taking care of him and raising him to be the happiest tiger in the world was the highlight of life."

Cuevas went on to explain that he had been working to purchase land to build an enclosure for the big cat. He said he found a 22-acre property 45 minutes away from Houston and was weeks away from finalizing the purchase.

"One thing I always promised him was that very soon I would buy our land and build him a beautiful enclosure with a swimming pool so we can both swim on those hot Texas days," Cuevas wrote. "He probably heard me tell him that every week. I would promise him that I would do everything I can to raise him to be a old beautiful tiger and that he'll never be apart from us."

India, who was the subject of a citywide search after the viral encounter in May, is now at Black Beauty Ranch, an animal sanctuary in Murchison, Texas.

India seems to be feeling right at home at his new habitat. Adorable video from the Humane Society shows him splashing in a pond and playing with toys.

MORE ABOUT TIGER:
India the tiger safely transferred to North Texas animal sanctuary