80yr Old Florida Man Has Full On Gladiator Match With Alligator

SOUTHWEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN/CNN) - An 80-year-old South Florida man took it upon himself to catch an alligator that slithered into his Southwest Miami-Dade backyard, but after grappling with the unwanted visitor, he needed some help from police and wildlife officials.

Miami-Dade Police and Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission officials responded to the home along the 12300 block of Southwest 202nd Ave., just after 5 p.m., Tuesday.

Ed Chapman, 80, said he spotted the alligator in his property. He then tried to trap it himself.

“That thing tugged me all over,” he said. “Carried me, twisting and fighting me all the way across the property.”

Chapman said he learned about the six-and-a-half-foot intruder from his dog, Rocco.

“I saw it because my dog ran out, and I saw her veer off, and she ran back,” he said, “and I looked at it, and there it was walking, and I said, ‘Damn, that’s a big gator.'”

Chapman said he brought out a noose in an attempt to apprehend the unwanted yard guest.

“I went and got the noose pulled, and I got it around its neck,” he said.

But Chapman said the alligator was not about to go down without a fight.

“He swatted me with his tail and knocked my legs out from under me,” he said.

Chapman said he fell on his side, but he wasn’t done wrangling the reptile.

“We argued together until we got all the way over to this pond,” he said, “and then he got his front legs down in the reeds there, and then we went all the way down, and he had his face in the water.”

It was then that Chapman called 911.

“I said, ‘I just need some help. I got it contained, but I need some help. I can’t get it out by myself,'” he said.

FULL STORY: WPTV