Lawsuit over Escaped 450-Pound Tiger Settled in New York

Apollo the circus tiger has cost his owner more than a fancy feast for escaping onto a New York City parkway and startling motorists into a five-car pileup.

Court papers filed in a Brooklyn court show that trainer Josip Marcan agreed to pay $935,000 to two drivers who were seriously injured when the 450-pound cat slipped out of his cage, into a city park and onto the Jackie Robinson Parkway.

The white tiger bounded onto the parkway after escaping on July 31, 2004, sending motorists into a panic. Marcan and his attorney said that Apollo was never on the roadway.

An off-duty New York police detective and a Queens woman will split the settlement. They both claimed to have suffered devastating back injuries in the chain-reaction car crash.

___

Information from: Daily News