TAMPA, Fla. — Police released body camera video of officers wrangling an alligator earlier this week in Tampa, Florida.
Wednesday morning, Tampa Police Department said in a caption of their bodycam video called “See you later, alligator,” that officers helped capture a roaming reptile near Kathleen Street and N. Howard Avenue.
Officers were called to an area less than 2 miles from Raymond James Stadium, which is where the Tampa Bay Buccaneers play, for a disturbance call, according to The Associated Press. When officers arrived, they found a 9-foot alligator.
The alligator reportedly “whipped” its tail multiple times as an officer tried to approach it. According to the AP, an officer used a noose that was made from yellow rope to lasso around the gator’s mouth. As that officer went to lasso the alligator, another officer was able to weigh down the rest of its body and a third officer assisted.
Eventually, the officer that lassoed the alligator’s mouth got a towel to cover its eyes and duct tape for its mouth from another officer, the AP reported. The alligator’s legs were also duct-taped together.
An alligator trapper contracted with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Nuisance Alligator Program, Phil Walters, told WFLA per the AP, that he was impressed with Tampa Police Department’s job.
“Being aware of your surroundings will keep you out of trouble, because that alligator, if you had hit him in a small car, you’d be totaled,” Walters explained to WFLA. “If you were on a motorcycle, your body would probably be laying out in the street.”
Police say no alligators or officers were injured.
The alligator was eventually taken to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission so they could find it a better home, police said.
