Florida Man Walks Into Convenience Store On A Beer Run With Alligator Tucked Under His Arm

The man that walked into a convenience store with a live alligator tucked under his arm in Jacksonville, Florida, for a beer run was either very silly, very drunk, or an alligator whisperer. The big lizard’s mouth had been taped shut, but it seems that it couldn’t have been easy to wrestle the gator and get the tape around its snout to prepare it for its odd journey.

First Coast News posted the video of the bizarre beer run, and it shows the man going into the convenience store with the hapless gator, holding it with his right hand. The alligator appeared to be about four feet long. The man reportedly walked up to the counter and asked, “Ya’ll aint out of beer are you?”

The man glanced back and saw someone in the back getting beer out of the cooler. He asked no one in particular, “Is he taking the last bit of beer? You aren’t taking the last bit of beer are you?” The man then appeared to jokingly chase the offending person throughout the store with the alligator, much to the people’s amusement.

He then took a case of beer from the cooler and that’s where the video ends. WTHR 13 picked up the story and reported that police and the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission were investigating the incident. The video was posted to Facebook by a man who goes by the name of Robby Stratton, according to WTHR.

Stratton said the incident was just “all fun and games. I knew everybody in there.” First Coast News said, it is unclear at this time if the man committed a crime.

This isn’t the first time that a man has brought an alligator into a convenience store in the Sunshine State, either. Back in 2013, NDTV reported that a man went into a Miami convenience store and tried to trade a live alligator that he had allegedly stolen for a six pack of beer. That gator was smaller than the one in Jacksonville, but its snout had been taped shut, as well.

The incident shocked the store owner and people in the store.

“I was scared. It’s the first time that I see somebody with that kind of animal in the store,” Javier Herrera, the store owner said.

The man, Fernando Caignet Aguilera, had reportedly stolen the alligator from a park. He was arrested and charged with three counts relating to the incident. Each of the three counts were a misdemeanor, and wildlife authorities said that each of the charges carry “a penalty of up to six months in jail and a fine up to $500.”

The Miami alligator was later untaped and released back into its habitat.