SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A Kendall area Miami-Dade Police officer took it upon himself to wrangle an alligator that he spotted in the roadway.
Just before 5 p.m., Tuesday, Miami-Dade Police units were dispatched to the area of Southwest 136th Street and 97th Avenue, regarding the nearly 7-foot-long reptile.
MDPD officer Manuel Orol was the first to spot it before calling for backup. He ended up restraining it on his own.
“Right in the front, just tied off to the thing right there,” he said. “It’s an actual tow rope. It’s a soft rope. I was able to lasso it around its legs.”
There were no reports of injuries, but it did turn some heads and may be to blame for at least one fender-bender: A white car on the scene had to be towed away.
Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials assisted in corralling the gator.
The animal’s arms and legs tied and eyes covered, they got it into the back of a pickup truck.
Then, a trapper from the Statewide Nuisance Alligator Program arrived to the scene and took the gator.
Some snapping and hissing while workers got it ready for a journey out of this Southwest Miami-Dade neighborhood.
His job is to relocate alligators 4 feet or longer, and the FWC said this one was between 6 and 7 feet long.
“My concern was that the gator needed to be contained because it could leave the area,” said Orol, “and like I said earlier, could possibly harm a child or someone walking their dog.”
He’s already getting feedback for his feat.
“They’re saying, ‘Wow, I can’t believe you did that,’ you know, ‘good job,’ ‘you’re crazy,'” Orol added with a smile.
The officer said he saw the alligator stalking a cat and felt a need to intervene.
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