ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (WSVN) — A Florida man broke into an alligator farm and jumped into a crocodile pool, only to get bitten by one of the reptiles.
Staff at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm tell Action News Jacksonville that workers preparing to open on Tuesday realized someone may have broken in after finding a pair of shorts and a rubber Crocs shoe floating in the water.
Park director John Bruggen told the station they initially thought it was a prank until they discovered blood on the top of the zipline platform over the crocodile pool.
#BREAKING: I’ve obtained surveillance footage of #FloridaMan in St. Augustine Alligator farm in crocodile exhibit. @ActionNewsJax @WOKVNews pic.twitter.com/FWXLC6CCzk
— Ryan Nelson (@RyanNelsonTV) November 6, 2018
Bruggen said it appeared a man broke into the park after hours. Surveillance video shows the man leaping over the rail and into the water.
Employees called police and told a responding officer about the blood.
That’s when the officer reportedly said, “I think we’ve already got the perpetrator in custody. We got somebody who told us they were bitten by an alligator.”
Officers located a man wearing only boxers in a nearby neighborhood with blood on him and several apparent bites on his foot. However, he denied being at the alligator farm.