Florida woman steals alligator from Tampa facility for birthday pics to die for

The Grove Resort and Water Park in nearby Winter Garden had an unexpected guest check-in at the beginning of the month. On Sept. 4, the Orange County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call about an animal in the bathtub of one of the rooms: a baby alligator.

According to reporting from the New York Post, the alligator had been stolen from Tampa tourist attraction Croc Encounters for the birthday photoshoot of a lifetime.

Per an incident report filed by the Florida Wildlife Control and the Orange County Sheriff’s Office, the alligator was appropriated by an ex-employee of Tampa’s Croc Encounters.

The Florida woman responsible for the incident said she “borrowed” the cold-blooded creature in the early hours of the morning and brought it to the hotel to use for her birthday photos.

Croc Encounters is a Central Florida wildlife park that promises “close-up encounters with a range of reptiles.” The owner of the park said that the crocodilian crook was once an employee, but was no longer with the company and not authorized to be on the premises or in contact of the animals.

Later that same evening, the alligator was returned to the facility in Tampa, and the woman was issued a court appearance notice. Croc Encounters will not be pressing charges.

Subscribe to Orlando Weekly newsletters.

Follow us: Apple News | Google News | NewsBreak | Reddit | Instagram | Facebook | Twitter | or sign up for our RSS Feed

This article appears in Fall Concerts Guide.