'Tiger King's Jeff Lowe in Even More Trouble After Skipping Court Date

Tiger King subject Jeff Lowe is facing even more trouble with the law and is now a wanted man in Las Vegas. A clerk at the Las Vegas Municipal Court confirmed to TMZ that four bench warrants had been issued for Lowe's arrest after he failed to appear in court for a hearing on Wednesday.

According to the outlet, the warrants stem from a 2017 case in which Lowe was charged with three counts of not having a proper license or permit for wild and farm animals and one count of doing business without a license. According to local news station KTNV, Lowe was accused of illegally using animals to make money, selling photo ops with exotic animals, and sneaking them into suites on the Las Vegas Strip. He was scheduled to appear in Las Vegas Municipal Court on Wednesday but was a no-show, prompting a judge to issue the warrants for his arrest. To settle the warrants, Lowe must pay $5,125 per warrant, or a total of $20,500 for all four. In the wake of his failure to appear in court, his attorney has allegedly withdrawn from the case.

The case stemming out of Las Vegas is just the latest instance of legal trouble the Tiger King star is facing, with his failure to appear in court coming just weeks after he and his wife, Lauren Lowe, were arrested in Oklahoma City on charges of driving under the influence. An incident report obtained by TMZ said the couple was arrested on the morning of Saturday, May 5, after they were both seen driving under the influence at separate times. According to the report, authorities spotted the couple's white Range Rover pull out of a parking lot at a high rate of speed and then stop abruptly. Lauren exited the vehicle and moved to the passenger's seat as Lowe moved to the driver's seat. After they were pulled over, a field sobriety test was conducted, with police noting that Lowe "appeared incredibly intoxicated." The report said Lauren also appeared drunk and was slurring her speech.

That arrest came shortly after federal authorities seized more than five dozen big cats from the couple's Tiger King Park in Thackerville, Oklahoma, following an investigation that included three inspections on the park since December 2020. Those inspections found that Lowe failed to provide the animals "with adequate or timely veterinary care, appropriate nutrition, and shelter that protects them from inclement weather and is of sufficient size to allow them to engage in normal behavior." The couple is accused of violating the Endangered Species Act.