An alligator inserted itself into a police pursuit in south-eastern Louisiana, chasing and attacking an allegedly impaired driver who tried to evade law enforcement by leaping into a swamp.
The suspect, a 40-year-old man, was eventually captured and arrested with injuries to both arms. Deputy body-worn camera footage of the alligator swimming at speed towards the man and thrashing with him in the water was posted on YouTube by local CBS News affiliate and Guardian reporting partner WWL Louisiana.
The unusual episode began on Sunday off Interstate 10 in Jefferson parish, according to information posted on Facebook by Louisiana state police.
Troopers responded to reports of a Toyota being driven recklessly, striking a concrete barrier and sustaining a tire blowout.
The statement said the vehicle was eventually stopped by officers on I-310 in the adjacent St Charles arish, which is the word Louisiana uses for county. The suspect, named in local media reports as Victor Rivas, of the community of Montz, fled on foot from an elevated section of the interstate into a swamp below.
“Troopers and deputies with the St Charles parish sheriff’s office began searching for Rivas, who was later spotted walking along US highway 61,” state police said.
“When law enforcement approached, he fled again into a swampy area, where he was attacked by an alligator and sustained injuries to both arms. Despite his injuries, Rivas continued fleeing before being located and apprehended with the assistance of drone technology.”
Louisiana state police public information officer Kyle Wagner told WWL: “Even after the strike, Rivas continued to evade law enforcement and fled again.
“We had to wait for him to pop out the woodline to make that apprehension.”
Rivas was released after treatment at a local hospital and charged with driving while impaired as well as resisting an officer, the statement said. It added that warrants were also obtained for hit and run, and careless operation of a vehicle in connection to the earlier crash in Jefferson parish.
The statement concluded with praise for law enforcement partners for their support in bringing Rivas’ arrest “to a successful resolution”. It omitted thanks, though, to the alligator that was a crucial part of the operation.
A separate statement from the St Charles parish sheriff’s office, however, contained an AI-generated photo of an alligator in a police uniform being presented with a “deputy of the year plaque” bearing the name “Al E Gator”.
A Guardian search of news archives turned up one other example of a reptile actively assisting law enforcement – a drug-sniffing bearded dragon named Iroh that was sworn in as an officer with Arizona’s Avondale police department in 2017. The episode, however, turned out to be an April fool’s prank.
