TAMPA, Fla. — This was not your typical home invasion.
Police in west-central Florida responding to a call about a potential home intruder late last month discovered a 9 1/2-foot alligator that had broken through a screen panel and was next to the homeowner’s pool.
The Tampa Police Department posted body camera footage of officers as they responded to an intruder call at about 3 a.m. ET on March 29, WFLA reported.
“He’s huge,” one officer can be heard on the body cam footage as they approach the screened-in patio and realize the “intruder” was a large reptile.
“We’re gonna guide him into this pool if we can,” an alligator trapper tells the officers in the footage.
After the gator is coaxed into the pool, an officer asks, “So he’ll just frolic around and wear himself out?”
“Yeah,” the trapper responds.
“That’ll burn some of that energy off,” another person says off-camera.
Once the alligator was subdued, it was measured and was confirmed to be 9 1/2 feet long. The reptile was then placed in the back of a truck, WFLA reported.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission’s website notes that nuisance alligators cannot be relocated and are typically euthanized.
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