Posted on 08/24/2005 1:46:07 PM PDT by Junior
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - Two men have been arrested for releasing a man-sized alligator into a Los Angeles lake, where the big reptile has eluded increasingly frustrated authorities for two weeks, police said on Wednesday.
Anthony Brewer, 36, was taken into custody on Tuesday night at his home in the Los Angeles suburb of San Pedro, where police said they found remnants of a make-shift alligator habitat, two snapping turtles and drugs.
Evidence seized there led officers to the nearby home of Todd Natow, 42, who was also arrested. A Los Angeles police spokesman said officers discovered three alligators, four piranhas, three desert tortoises, six tortoise eggs, one rattlesnake, a scorpion and marijuana.
The spokesman said investigators believe that Brewer owned the alligator and gave it to Natow, who put it into Lake Machado in the Harbor City neighborhood of Los Angeles about two months ago.
The reptile was reported to authorities about two weeks ago and since then has dodged repeated attempts to capture it by park rangers and professional gator wranglers brought in from out of state.
The cagey creature has meanwhile won the affection of some local residents, who gather around the 53-acre (21 hectare) lake waiting for it to surface from the brackish water.
Others have hawked T-shirts bearing an alligator drawing and the words: "Harbor City You Will Never Catch Me."
I just have to ask..what is the charge?
Do these fellers deal sharks, too?
Gator dumping?
It is illegal to have those animals.
Cruelty to animals. Can you imagine releasing a poor aligator into a filthy Los Angeles lake?
"...make-shift alligator habitat, two snapping turtles and drugs.... "
What's an alligator gonna do with two snappng turtles and drugs?
Oh, I'm confused.
I say tether them to a stake on the shore, with sharpshooters hidden nearby. As soon as the 'gators have dined, let the sharpshooters nail 'em. (The 'gators that is.)
I dunno. Maybe lifestyle issues?
"officers discovered three alligators, four piranhas, three desert tortoises, six tortoise eggs, one rattlesnake, a scorpion and marijuana".
I know Cajuns that could make a heckuva meal with all that.
Cruelty to animals - have you seen that polluted lake? ;)
The cagey creature has meanwhile won the affection of some local residents, who gather around the 53-acre (21 hectare) lake waiting for it to surface from the brackish water.
Others have hawked T-shirts bearing an alligator drawing and the words: "Harbor City You Will Never Catch Me."
I'm sure there's some law regarding the introduction of non-indigenous species to lakes or streams.
Maybe I could sell these guys a little invention I ran across. Its good for catching all sorts of elusive and dangerous things. I call it the "Reye-Full"...
LOL. Best post of the day.
"officers discovered three alligators, four piranhas, three desert tortoises, six tortoise eggs, one rattlesnake, a scorpion and marijuana."
In other words "Party Supplies"
All this fuss over one AMERICAN alligator, yet they let the illegal predators from south of the border roam free and try to give them all the protection and benefits they can. I'd rather live with the gators' myself.
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