 |  | ||||
|
Wednesday, October 2, 2002 Tourist charged with gator-snatchingBy DINAH VOYLES PULVER | News-Journal Environment Writer DAYTONA BEACH — A tourist who went to play putt-putt golf and walked away with a live alligator was arrested in Daytona Beach Shores, police said. Witnesses reported seeing Derrick Dale Cooper, 22, of North Carolina, make a noose with a line used for feeding live alligators kept at the Congo River golf attraction, said Officer Glen Schwarz with the Daytona Beach Shores Department of Public Safety. Cooper used the noose to capture a 3-foot alligator, pull it over the fence and take off with the reptile Monday night, Schwarz said. Cooper was found in the parking lot of his hotel clutching the alligator and holding its mouth closed, Schwarz said. He was charged with alligator poaching and petty theft and taken to the Volusia County Branch Jail. This wasn't the first time over-eager tourists have gotten in trouble with the alligators at Congo River, Schwarz said. Last year, a pair of tourists were arrested for picking up a gator at the golf course and taking it to their hotel pool where they were caught watching it swim. Commission officials said the park is permitted to possess the alligators, which were raised in captivity. The latest incident was the second wildlife violation reported locally in two days. On Saturday night, officers arrived at a Daytona Beach home to investigate reports of a gunshot and a man dragging a deer to his house, and found six live rattlesnakes as well as a dead deer. Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials say Sgt. Steve Grigg found Steven Rubin, 38, skinning a deer in his back yard. While Grigg was investigating, he discovered Rubin was keeping six live pygmy rattlesnakes, said commission spokesman Joy Hill. Venomous snakes are protected by Florida law and can't be kept without a permit. Rubin was charged with possession of venomous reptiles and with unsafe housing of the snakes, Hill said. He also was charged with possession of deer taken by illegal method during archery season. Rubin told Grigg the deer must have been shot at a nearby hunt club and then wandered over to his yard and died, Hill said, but officers said they could find no trail of blood. |
Copyright © 2009 NIE WORLD (www.nieworld.com). All content copyrighted and may not be republished without permission. The News-Journal has no control over and is not responsible for content on other Web sites. Privacy Policy. |