Man Ticketed After Catching Gator That Was Threatening Children
Posted: 5:46 pm EDT June 23, 2003
LAKE COUNTY, Fla. -- A Lake County man says all he wanted to do was help, but all he got was a ticket for his trouble. The man lassoed a gator to keep the reptile away from a woman and her children.
Michael McCormick's $180 ticket has been reduced to a simple warning. Initially, the folks with the Florida Wildlife Commission cited McCormick for roping an alligator he saw leaving a pond headed toward a woman walking down the street with children."So I turned to the gator and kept his attention toward me," says McCormick.He says he's certain what would have happened if he had not put himself between the 5 or 6 foot gator and the family. "Considering the size of the small children, I honestly think he was coming after them.McCormick had just wrapped up his day at work at Caskey's Mowers. As a mechanic, he knew how good he was with a wrench. The gator taught him how handy he is with a rope."We had a pretty good tugging match going," he explains.McCormick held the reptile penned against a fence until help arrived. But to his surprise, when deputies showed up, it wasn't the gator that was in trouble. Wildlife officials issued him $180 ticket for illegally possessing an alligator."I could understand it if I had been out here beating on the alligator or I had gone into the lake, but considering the circumstances I think it was kind of silly to do that," says McCormick.He took the ticket with no questions and one thought in mind: 12-year-old Brian Griffin."My daughter knew him and, you know, all of that went into play when I seen the gator and especially when I seen him move out," explains McCormick. "You can't put a price on a person's life and you can't stop it and rewind it and say hey let's try this again."And for that reason, McComick says he would do the exact same thing all over again, even if he had to pay the fine. McCormick says, before the folks with the Wildlife Commission decided to let him off the hook, he had tons of people offering to pay his ticket for him, but he refused them all. He says he planned to fight the citation because he didn't feel he had done anything wrong.
Michael McCormick's $180 ticket has been reduced to a simple warning. Initially, the folks with the Florida Wildlife Commission cited McCormick for roping an alligator he saw leaving a pond headed toward a woman walking down the street with children."So I turned to the gator and kept his attention toward me," says McCormick.He says he's certain what would have happened if he had not put himself between the 5 or 6 foot gator and the family. "Considering the size of the small children, I honestly think he was coming after them.McCormick had just wrapped up his day at work at Caskey's Mowers. As a mechanic, he knew how good he was with a wrench. The gator taught him how handy he is with a rope."We had a pretty good tugging match going," he explains.McCormick held the reptile penned against a fence until help arrived. But to his surprise, when deputies showed up, it wasn't the gator that was in trouble. Wildlife officials issued him $180 ticket for illegally possessing an alligator."I could understand it if I had been out here beating on the alligator or I had gone into the lake, but considering the circumstances I think it was kind of silly to do that," says McCormick.He took the ticket with no questions and one thought in mind: 12-year-old Brian Griffin."My daughter knew him and, you know, all of that went into play when I seen the gator and especially when I seen him move out," explains McCormick. "You can't put a price on a person's life and you can't stop it and rewind it and say hey let's try this again."And for that reason, McComick says he would do the exact same thing all over again, even if he had to pay the fine. McCormick says, before the folks with the Wildlife Commission decided to let him off the hook, he had tons of people offering to pay his ticket for him, but he refused them all. He says he planned to fight the citation because he didn't feel he had done anything wrong. Previous Stories:
- June 23, 2003: Funeral Held For Boy Killed By Alligator
- June 20, 2003: Trappers Catch Gator That Killed Boy
- June 20, 2003: 12-Year-Old Killed By Gator
- June 17, 2003: Trapper Continues Search For Aggressive Gator That Killed Dog
- June 17, 2003: 400-Pound Gator Grabs 120-Pound Dog From River's Edge
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