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Jun 15, 2006 10:36 am US/Eastern
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Gator Takes Morning Stroll Through Country Walk
Police Officer Almost Hits The Gator Crossing The Road
Click PLAY to see the capture
SOUTH MIAMI-DADE (CBS4 News) ―
A Miami-Dade police officer needed help to collar a suspect Thursday morning, but he can explain the need for backup. The suspect was 8 feet long, with a deadly tail and teeth which could scare a dentist, and the officer almost ran him down in a Countrywalk street.
That raises the question: Why did the gator cross the road? To get to the other side, trappers say.
Miami-Dade police say the officer was on Patrol in the South Miami-Dade community early Thursday when the alligator, estimated at almost 8 feet in length, appeared in the headlights, and was almost hit by the officer.
Since the gator was in a residential area, police contact trapper Todd Hardwick of Pesky Critters to have it removed.
"It's not really unusual this time of year," Hardwick told CBS4 News. "Late at night, a gator will sometimes moves from one lake or canal to another lake or canal, and most of the time we're sleeping and we never know who's been in our yard. This time, a police officer happened upon him."
The gator first moved into the driveway of a home and hid under the owner's Hummer. By the time Hardwick arrived, the alligator had moved a few houses down finally making its way to the backyard of another house, where Hardwick was able to capture it.
Hardwick said the animal was agitated and clearly out of it's element, being almost half a mile away from the closest water. It's jaws were taped and it's eyes were covered to calm it, and as police officers watched, the gator was loaded into hardwick's truck.
(© MMVI, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)