May 23, 2012
By Brad Davis, ABCActionNews.com
TAMPA, Fla. – Aaron French is the talk of his New Tampa neighborhood. And it’s alI because of a seven-foot alligator. A woman spotted it while out walking her dog.
“So the neighbor knocked on my door, and in the excitement said, ‘Hey, there’s a gator in the road.’ My thought immediately is what is a gator doing in the road,” explained French.
By the time French got there, the gator had moved to the front porch of another neighbor’s home.
“He was climbing the door, the snout was up, his claws on the door. As he was slipping, he was turning around, he heard me, his tail was hitting the window,” recalled French.
He was concerned the woman who lived there might open the door.
“I went and got a lasso rope, came back and put it around his foot and pulled him out; tied him up to the no parking sign and called the police,” said French.
According to Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission Officer Robert Scholl, roping that gator is a big no-no.
“The gentleman trapped the alligator, and it’s against the law to trap an alligator if you do not have an alligator trapping permit,” said Scholl.