Posted on 03/31/2023 2:38:26 PM PDT by nickcarraway
Tampa police officers were called to a commercial part of town because of a disturbance, but it wasn't a public brawl or anyone behaving in a disorderly manner. It was a 9-foot alligator Wednesday night ambling down a street not far from Raymond James Stadium, home of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
The gator whipped its tail several times and hissed when an officer first approached it, poking with an outstretched baton. A half dozen officers along with a crowd of spectators watched as lights from squad cars flashed on the blocked off street, according to bodycam video released by the Tampa Police Department.
See You Later, Alligator...... by TampaPD on YouTube The officer then fashioned a noose from a yellow rope and lassoed it around the top of the gator's mouth.
"Ready?" one of the officers said. "You want to jump on him?"
And that's what they did, as one officer went for the head with outstretched hands and another officer weighed down the rest of the alligator's body. A third officer was recruited to help weigh the gator down.
The officer keeping the gator's mouth shut asked his colleagues for a towel to cover its eyes and some duct tape to wrap its mouth. They also taped together the gator's legs. "Behind his back, like you're handcuffing him," an officer said.
The police department said the gator was taken for a ride by the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission to "find a more suitable home."
Phil Walters, an alligator trapper contracted with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Nuisance Alligator Program who was called in to assist the officers, said he was impressed with the job done by Tampa's finest before he arrived at the scene.
According to a Facebook post from Walters, law enforcement arrived on scene before any drivers were injured.
By the time Walters got to the scene of the large gator, police were able to wrangle it and tape its mouth shut – ultimately having four officers sitting on the animal's back.
"I think TPD is attempting to put me out of work," Walters said in a statement. "Usually TPD does not normally wrangle something that stinky & slimy."
Cuff and Stuff!
He can’t breathe!
“Usually TPD does not normally wrangle something that stinky & slimy.”
Evidently, there’s no RAT politicians in Tampa.
Ping
So, they had him all taped up. Then what happens because he was hissing like crazy. Do they pick him up and put him in a truck or cage?
Oh, so he did a George Floyd. That ociffer is in trouble. LOL
Usually they just put gators in the back of a truck. No cage needed.
Hands Up don’t shoot!
They are too up!! I’ve got short arms!
Gator lives matter.
Probably back of a pick up truck.
Somewhere I have a picture of a bunch of my buddies in high skrool with a 5 foot alligator with its mouth taped in one of the guys swimming pool. It was amazing how fast that thing could go in the water when he wanted to. Trusting in duct tape!
Is he going to become a pair of fine boots?
Gatorland in Kissimmee, FL. Kids loved it. Kinda spooky seeing all these gators lazily lying around all over each other.
Watching a gator leap from the water to get a raw chicken dangling above is very sobering. Fast and surprisingly high leapers.
One of my undergraduate professors did that, but with rope. We saw the alligator below us from a bridge. He climbed over the rail and jumped right over the reptile, wrestled him, and tied his legs.
In graduate school, we were tasked with tagging alligators on the Savannah River nuclear compound. But that wasn’t as dramatic as what these policemen did.
Sounds like premises that could be the premise for a SyFy channel movie...
Thats a friggen dinosaur! Leave it alone.
GO GATORS!
yes, IT IS!!!
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