Florida Man Arrested for Shooting Alligator While Throwing Out Thousands of Tires: ‘Caught in Multiple Lies’

It may sound too ridiculous to be true, but Tampa police officers arrested a man for shooting an alligator while illegally dumping tires, local news station WFLA reported.

What is happening?

According to a Facebook post from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, officers “saw a man enter the property and begin shooting at an alligator from his truck window before throwing more tires from his vehicle.” .

Officers were patrolling the property after finding thousands of tires illegally dumped there.

The man, who authorities identified as 40-year-old Arisleyder Reina-Tornes, said he was shooting the alligator “because it was going to attack it,” according to local news channel WOFL .

But the officers said otherwise.

“Mr. Reina-Tornes was still in his vehicle when he first shot it, and the alligator never made any threatening movements toward him, and when we approached the alligator, it did not never came near us,” they said. “Mr. Reina-Tornes was caught in several lies, even admitted to us that he had lied, and it appeared that most of what he told us was untruthful, so we decided not to continue our interview .”

Reina-Tornes was arrested for dumping tires, attempting to take an alligator, driving an unregistered vehicle and driving in possession of an open container.

Why is it so harmful?

Mr. Reina-Tornes has demonstrated an attitude and disregard for nature that many consider dangerous.

First, throwing away tires is incredibly harmful to the environment. Tires are made up of thousands of chemicals, many of which are toxic to plants and animals. And when they stay in wet, grassy areas like this, they slowly decompose over time, releasing these chemicals into the environment. From there, they can move up the food chain and end up in the foods we grow and eat.

Shooting an alligator for sport also shows a blatant lack of respect for the animals that coexist with us on this planet.

Unfortunately, Reina-Tornes is not the only one with this attitude. Earlier this summer, California hunters were arrested for producing fraudulent hunting licenses and tags in order to hunt and kill deer and bears beyond their legal limit. One even killed a mountain lion, which is a protected animal in the state.

What are we doing about this?

Many groups are looking for more efficient ways to reuse and recycle tires to prevent them from deteriorating where they are, too often, illegally dumped.

By prosecuting offenders like this for the harm caused to the alligator in question, authorities hope that people will instead seek a more respectful — distanced — relationship with local wildlife.

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