Police release bodycam footage of officer wrangling gator in southwest Miami-Dade

MIAMI-DADE COUNTY, Fla. – Authorities released police body-camera footage Thursday that shows the terrifying moments an officer wrangled an alligator in southwest Miami-Dade County.

Sky 10 was over the scene along Southwest 136th Street and 97th Avenue late Tuesday afternoon as officers attempted to surround the gator with their patrol cars.

The body-camera video shows the intense situation unfold as Miami-Dade police Officer Manuel Orol placed a rope lasso over the gator’s snout and tightened it around its legs.

“It’s a soft rope. I was able to lasso it around its top legs, and it was in the midsection where I was able to hold it and secure it so it wouldn’t go out into the street,” Orol said the day of the incident. “I just made a split second decision saying, ‘I gotta hold this gator, I gotta contain it,’ and that’s what I went by.”

Eventually, trappers with the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission arrived and trapped the gator.

Authorities said the gator was approximately six-and-a-half-feet long.


About the Author:

David Dwork joined the WPLG Local 10 News team in August 2019. Born and raised in Miami-Dade County, David has covered South Florida sports since 2007.