Police arrest two suspected of releasing alligator

Two people have today been arrested for allegedly turning an alligator loose in a city lake, prompting Los Angeles officials to bring in reptile wranglers, keep crowds at bay and impose heavy patrols.

The pair were taken into custody during a pre-dawn raid at a home in the San Pedro harbour area, where officers seized several more exotic animals including alligators, turtles and snakes.

Meanwhile, the lake alligator – who’s been nicknamed Carlito and Harbour Park Harry – remained at large in the park about 20 miles south of downtown Los Angeles.

Three wrestlers and a cameraman recruited from Gatorland, a theme park in Orlando, Florida, scoured the lake yesterday. The attempt follows an unsuccessful search last week by Colorado-based gator wrangler Jay Young, who tried for two days and was paid £800 (€1,200).

The Florida crew offered to do the job for free and will drive the reptile back to Gatorland if the city decides not to keep it.

“We have a 110-acre park where alligators live a long, happy, sheltered life,” Gatorland spokeswoman Michelle Harris said. “We think he would make a nice fit.”

Harris said the gator could be housed in an exhibition area with two other gators “captured from notorious backgrounds”. One was seized in Miami and one is known to eat dogs, she said.

But Carlito’s undeniable fame appears to have rubbed off on Los Angeles City Councilwoman Janice Hahn.

“They offered to take it back, but we haven’t decided that’s the right thing to do,” Hahn said. “After all, it’s an LA gator.”

The creature was first spotted on August 12, and officials initially believed it was a close alligator relative from the Amazon called a caiman.

Crowds gathered around the cordoned lake, binoculars in hand, in hopes of a sighting.

Some lobbed tempting treats, including tortillas, French bread, jelly doughnuts and raw chicken.

Vendors began selling t-shirts with an alligator logo and the tagline: “You will never catch me!!”

Television crews staked out the lake, but the gator has generally been camera shy. Rarely have people seen much more than its eyes poking above the lake’s water line in recent days.

Tim Williams, Gatorland’s so-called gator guru and dean of gator wrestling, said all the attention visitors have been lavishing on the lake creature won’t lure the reptile. What will, he said, is grunting out a gator call.

“The eyes glow red at night and when you grunt ’em, it’s just a gruntin’ call,” said Williams, who claims to have spent 30 years wrestling gators. He demonstrated the call by making a rapid guttural noise that sounded like someone trying not to throw up.

“We’ll try to hunt him at night, get close, either get a noose or grab him,” said Williams. “He’s not that big, and then we’ll go from there.”