CAUGHT IN THE ACT

Boy, 14, Arrested for Swinging and Kicking Baby Alligator

“Unfortunately, this young man is going to learn a very expensive lesson,” a Florida sheriff said.

A 14-year-old boy in Florida’s Volusia County was arrested after deputies said he was caught on surveillance video swinging a baby alligator by its tail over his head and kicking it near a university facility on April 3. According to the Volusia Sheriff’s Office, the incident occurred near the docks at the Stetson Aquatic Center. A university public safety officer told deputies she watched it live on security cameras and reported it, ClickOrlando reported. The footage, reviewed by detectives, showed the teen “holding a baby alligator by its tail and swinging it back and forth,” while another child was seen taking photos. The teen was later booked into juvenile detention on a felony charge of harming or possessing an alligator without approval from the Florida Fish & Wildlife Conservation Commission. “You just don’t do that,” Sheriff Mike Chitwood said. “You do not abuse wildlife, and unfortunately, this young man is going to learn a very expensive lesson in that.”