Woman Puts Alligator in Her Back Seat

AP ^ | February 25, 2003

[Indy Pendance]

TAMPA, Fla. (AP) -- Leslie Strickland said she had nothing but good intentions when she loaded a badly hurt 6-foot alligator into the back seat of her car and took it home to Port Charlotte.

The 49-year-old woman had hit the animal with her car Friday night and went back to rescue it Saturday - but wound up spending a night in jail, charged with possession of an alligator, a felony in Florida.

Police also charged her with driving with a suspended license and walking away from the scene of an accident, leaving the injured alligator in the back seat.

"I knew I was in trouble, and I panicked and I left," Strickland said by phone Monday. "I had a felony in the back seat, and I just didn't know what to do."

On Saturday, Strickland said she drove the gator home, wetted it down with hose and then tried unsuccessfully to reach somebody with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

After neighbors told her it was illegal to have the animal, she loaded it in the car again and drove off in search of a pond to release it.

But the alligator started to thrash its tail, she said. Distracted, she veered off the road and hit a mailbox. Witnesses told police she tried to drive off, but her car got stuck in the ditch. So she got out and walked away.

Police arrested Strickland at her home nearby, adding a charge of resisting arrest after she struggled with officers who tried to handcuff her. She said she "freaked out" at the prospect of going to jail.

The game commission finally removed the alligator from the car; it died later.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

I believe that would be Tibbedeaux, La., not Tippitoe. At the end of the bayou. I met my first wife at the College Inn there.

[fml]

Here gator,gator,gator. Here gator,gator,gator.

[Bethbg79]

In most parts of Louisiana, that's not a felony, it's dinner.

Darn right it is! Especially the tail, deep fried. Finger lickin' good

Dont forget barbeque gator!

[EggsAckley]

I remember that tape. It was played extensively in SF on the radio. Funny, funny.

[FreedomPoster]

I'm sure you're right; it's what I get for a Google cut'n'paste

[Mind-numbed Robot]

When you consider that an alligator is about half tail a six foot alligator is not that big. Probably only 60-75 pounds at that age.

[CFW]

Beer-drinking bicyclist arrested
FROM STAFF REPORTS
Published Sunday, February 23rd, 2003


A man who was drinking a beer while riding his bicycle in a parking lot next to the Beaufort County Sheriff's Office on Hilton Head Island Friday night told a deputy that he had "no problems," and then volunteered to empty his pockets of all contents -- including a bag of marijuana.
According to a report filed with the Sheriff's Office, Alberto Aurelio Trujillo, 36, of 25 Deallyon Road was on Lagoon Road about 11 p.m. when he was approached by Deputy Eric Ricker. Ricker approached Trujillo because Trujillo was "attempting to ride a bicycle while drinking a Budweiser beer from a bottle," the report said.

Trujillo reportedly told the deputy that he was "extremely drunk but had no problems." Ricker then asked Trujillo to pour out his bottle of beer. But instead of dumping it, Trujillo began to empty his pockets, all the while saying, "no problems," the report said.

As he emptied his pockets, a baggy of leafy substance thought to be marijuana fell out, the report said. Trujillo then looked at Ricker and said, "Oops, I am very drunk," then repeated he had "no problems," Ricker wrote in his report.

Ricker disagreed and told Trujillo he had a big problem.

Trujillo was arrested and charged with possession of beer in public and simple possession of marijuana.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Dont forget barbeque gator!

In southern Louisiana anything they throw on the grill they call barbeque, regardless of flavor or sauce.

[Thinkin' Gal]

On Saturday, Strickland said she drove the gator home, wetted it down with hose and then tried unsuccessfully to reach somebody with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

She was looking for marinade recipes and cooking tips, after gatorrecipes.com returned an error message.

[Bethbg79]

Yeah, but how did one woman pick up a six foot gator by herself while holding its jaws and controlling the tail.
Not to mention the snap he probably made at her when she let him go in the backseat.

Sounds funny to me...

[rabidralph]

"I had a felony in the back seat, and I just didn't know what to do."

Is this what that rite of passage has come to, now?

[Pining_4_TX]

I was wondering that myself. I wouldn't want to mess with a woman who could do that. She probably did give the cops a hard time.

[b4its2late]

Should would've been better off turning the gator into shoes, or belts, or hand bags......

[ab1]

Check Bob and Tom's website, I think that is where it started.

-A.

[Mind-numbed Robot]

Don't forget, she first ran over him with her car. That probably took a little of the spunk out of him. He did die from his injuries.

[Bethbg79]

True.

Besides that, who really, other than Steve Irwin and a few others, picks up a six foot gator?

I guess she does.
Having grown up by a canal and having alligators come up in the neighborhood regularly, it boggles me.

[Minty]

Forget that and just tell me what kind of car is that?

[B4Ranch]

Eat the ones who threaten you. That'll teach the others to leave you alone!

[Dog Gone]

This is the funniest story I've read in weeks.

[Chapita]

THIBADEAUX, Louisiana [pronounced tibadoe]