CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. – A 71-year-old Florida man faces a felony charge after deputies say he lassoed a 9-foot alligator by its upper jaw and left it tied to a handrail above a canal Wednesday morning in Cape Canaveral.
Robert Colin, 71, of Cape Canaveral, called deputies to the scene around 7:30 a.m. in the area of West Central Boulevard and Oak Manor Drive, where he claimed that he found the gator tied up before he proceeded to leave.
Colin told News 6 reporter James Sparvero that he was joking.
Investigators then found surveillance from a building SpaceX operates that allegedly shows Colin using a nylon rope to create a loop that he used to “lasso” the alligator, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Colin’s intention was to capture and remove the alligator from the canal near the intersection, said investigators, who noted that he is not a licensed trapper and did not possess any proper licensing or permits to legally remove or attempt to remove an alligator.
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According to a spokesperson for the sheriff’s office, the alligator was euthanized.
Colin was arrested at his home and booked around noon that day on a charge of illegal killing, possessing or capturing of alligators.
After posting a $2,500 bond and walking out of jail, the Navy veteran told Sparvero he used a clothesline to try to protect the turtles in the canal that he and others like to feed.
Colin said he has seen and reported alligators in the canal going back three years.
”I tied a line here because I saw a snout coming out of this pipe,” Colin demonstrated. “He hooked his upper jaw on it and he tried to take off, but it was already tied here.”
Colin said he then called the sheriff’s office so wildlife authorities could come out and remove the gator.
He said he never thought he was breaking the law. However, there are several laws in Florida to protect alligators.
“This is a very public area, and they feed, of course, the turtles,” Colin said. “So, I thought I’d help out. That was my intention.”
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