Deputies Help Lost Alligator Make Its Way Back to Water

A lost alligator in Florida got a helping hand from some concerned members of law enforcement. 

According to the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office, the gator was spotted in a parking lot Sunday after straying from its pond.

"This Florida native decided to take a trip to CVS and then a Speedway Gas Station in Brandon before Deputies Lehman, Fluellen and Grikenas along with Master Sergeant Massaro gave him a ride home," the office wrote on Twitter. 

Luckily, one of the deputies had experience in rounding up reptiles. 

"I used to work for Florida Fish and Wildlife, which is like a conservation law enforcement," Deputy Casey Lehman told InsideEdition.com. "I heard a call come out that it was under somebody’s car at an Applebee's. And I figured I would go help out since I had some training with some alligators."

Its mouth was tied shut before a brief trip back home led him right to the water he calls home, or at least where they think he lived.

"We don’t know exactly where the gator came from," Master Sgt. Jeff Massaro said. "In the summer ... it’s mating season so they’re out there searching for female alligators. So if there’s a really big flood, lots of rain … they’ll look for other bodies of water."

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