How did two alligators end up dead in a truck? Florida deputies found a gun
Alligators, so common to Florida, strike fear in many. Those teeth. Those jaws. You don’t necessarily want them crashing your backyard party — even if we built on their land.
But the reality is the American alligator is federally protected by the Endangered Species Act as a threatened species and by Florida’s Endangered and Threatened Species Rule, according to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Two Florida Fish and Wildlife officers responded to a call of three people in a white truck trespassing on a private business in LaBelle, in Florida’s Hendry County, on a recent Wednesday afternoon. The officers found two dead alligators in the bed of Ronaldo De Souza’s truck, according to an arrest report filed by the department’s Officer Patrick Pridgen on Feb. 23.
Ronaldo Adriano De Souza, 41, of Cape Coral, admitted to killing the two gators, deputies said on the arrest report. A deputy with Hendry County had already taken a Henry lever action rifle from De Souza, the report said.
De Souza was arrested and charged with two third-degree felony counts of illegally killing, capturing and possessing alligators or eggs and one count of armed trespassing, according to Hendry County court records.
De Souza was booked into jail by the Hendry County Sheriff’s Office on Feb. 23 and released that day after making bail. Each charge carried a $5,000 bond.
