Brother injured in San Francisco Zoo mauling arrested by SJSU police

By Sandra Gonzales
sgonzales@mercurynews.com
Posted: 07/24/2009 07:11:43 PM PDT
Updated: 07/24/2009 09:40:05 PM PDT


Kulbir Dhaliwal, center, is seen in this file photo from the funeral... (Mercury News file photo)«123»For the second time in two years, a San Jose man injured in the infamous San Francisco Zoo tiger mauling has been arrested by police.

Kulbir Dhaliwal, 24, was taken into custody Wednesday in San Jose on suspicion of felony possession of three grams of cocaine and being under the influence of a controlled substance, a misdemeanor.

Dhaliwal made headlines in December 2007 after a Siberian tiger fatally mauled his friend at the San Francisco Zoo, and injured him and his brother, Paul Dhaliwal. The brothers recently settled a $900,000 civil suit against the zoo.

Kulbir Dhaliwal's latest encounter happened when San Jose State University police stopped a car that was heading the wrong way on San Fernando Street at Ninth Street about 2:20 a.m. Wednesday, said university police Sgt. John Laws.

After they stopped the vehicle, they arrested the driver, Tarlok Dhaliwal, and determined that Kulbir Dhaliwal, a passenger, was under the influence of a controlled substance, which they believed to be cocaine. Police, however, are awaiting lab results for official confirmation. A third person in the car was not arrested.

Laws said Kulbir Dhaliwal had three grams of cocaine in a yellow baggie. Tarlok Dhaliwal, meanwhile, was arrested on suspicion of driving under the influence and it was unclear what relation, if any, he is to Kulbir Dhaliwal. Both men were booked into the Santa Clara County Main Jail.

Kulbir Dhaliwal's brush with police was not his first. In December, he pleaded guilty to misdemeanor charges of resisting arrest and public drunkenness for a September 2007 run-in with police near his home.

Attorneys for Dhaliwal could not be reached for comment.

Contact Sandra Gonzales at 408-920-5778.

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