Feb. 22, 2023 News helicopter footage shows Miami-Dade police surrounding a wild alligator with their vehicles while an officer looped a polyester tow rope around the reptile, which weighed over 200 pounds.
By CBS Miami Source Miami Herald Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
An alligator spotted on a Kendall street was eventually captured near homes.
The capture happened Tuesday afternoon near Southwest 136th Street and 97th Avenue. Images from Chopper 4 showed the reptile flanked by two Miami-Dade police cruisers.
Officer Manuel Orol used a polyester utility rope to lasso the gator. He then secured the other end of the rope to the front of his car. The gator was about 6 1/2 feet and weighed more than 200 pounds.
Orol, a three-year patrol veteran, saw the reptile stop in a field, in an area where children ride bicycles. The officer often sees small pets roam there, too.
“The gator was looking at a brown cat that was right there,” Orol said. “That’s someone’s pet. That’s someone’s animal.”
So, he and two other officers in cruisers surrounded the reptile. At first, Orol stepped out and shrugged. Moments later, he reached in his truck and grabbed a polyester tow rope used to pull officers to safety.
Orol then made a loop and tried tossing it around the alligator’s neck five times.
“I was like I hope he gets it because the gator was like far but then it started to walk in my direction where I live,” said Slane Roncheto, a neighbor.
Finally, Orol succeeded. As the animal thrashed around, the officer and neighbors wondered how long the lasso would hold.
“I just made a split-second decision,” Orol said. “I [had] to hold this gator. I [had] to contain it.”
At around 6 p.m. Tuesday, an agent from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived and he and a Miami-Dade firefighter taped the gator’s mouth and legs.
Then the reptile was placed in the back of an FWC pickup truck.