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Pembroke Pines Charter School finds a 6-foot gator on its property as students show up for classes.
©Associated Press
April 16, 2002
PEMBROKE PINES -- Custodian Ricardo Pena Loza was preparing Pembroke Pines Charter School for pupils' arrival Monday morning. As he walked between buildings, he recalled later, "I felt this lump under my foot and heard a growl."
Next thing Loza knew, a 6-foot alligator was charging at him, snapping its jaws. Loza had stepped on its tail.
"It happened in seconds. I was enclosed between walls and had nowhere to run," said Loza, who jumped over the alligator, which pursued him for a short distance. He ran to get help. "My main concern was for the safety of the kids."
Preschool children and their parents were entering the elementary school in southwest Broward County when they heard the commotion. They were ordered inside and the doors shut.
"The situation was immediately under control," principal Jane Hall said. "We're in the Everglades but also in the middle of standardized testing, so that's where our focus is."
City police Capt. Keith Palant said the alligator probably emerged from a lake northwest of the school.
"These gators are the native residents," Palant said.
Nuisance wildlife trapper Kevin Garvey caught the alligator with a noose and put him in his truck.
"He seemed pretty disoriented," Garvey said.
Garvey took the alligator to a plant in Hollywood, where it was killed and processed for its skin and meat. According to state law, any trapped alligator over 5 feet long must be killed.
It wasn't a lust for learning that brought the gator to school, Garvey guessed. Alligator mating season is between April and June, and they often display a reckless lack of caution as they cross land between canals and lakes seeking mates.
Last year, the Florida Wildlife Commission received 2,500 complaints from residents who spotted alligators on or near their property.