Photo: SJSO
Employees at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm Zoological Park were left baffled when they came across a floating Croc shoe and discarded clothes in the facility’s crocodile pit Tuesday morning.
Desperate for answers, St. Augustine staff members took a look at the park’s security footage and discovered a man had broken into the farm and jumped off a roof into the crocodile exhibit, which is home to three 12-foot Nile crocodiles, News 4 Jaxreported.
When the employees contacted the police, officers had just responded to an incident in which a man, wearing nothing but underwear, was seen crawling on the lawn in a “concealed manner” near the park, the St. Augustine Police Department said in astatement.
The man, who police identified as the suspect caught on camera at the St. Augustine Alligator Farm, sustained significant injuries to his feet and legs — believed to be crocodile bites. The suspect has since been identified as Brandon Keith Hatfield.
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In addition to flinging himself into the crocodile exhibit, police say Hatfield, 23, allegedly “damaged numerous exhibits and statues around the complex causing an excess of $5,000 in damage.”
In another surveillance video, the man can be seen standing on top of a statue before jumping on a tree. That is when he comes into contact with one of the crocodiles, which explains his injuries, Jay Ruditis, who handles the security videos for the park told News 4 Jax.
“Watch behind him, there’s a croc trying to attack him,” Ruditis told the new station describing the footage. “Now it’s dragging him. He will get on the shore. It’s got his foot right now. It has a good hold on his leg. It’s kind of pulling him in. The croc will flip him, a little death roll in a moment. The croc still has him, so what he does is tries to kick it with his foot,” Ruditis explained to News 4 Jax.
“A little weird to see somebody that early in just boxers going over your wall into your property saying ‘I was held hostage in a pool with gators,” Jeff BlacktoldCBS 47 about finding Hatfield on his lawn.
Hatfield has been charged with Burglary, Criminal Mischief and Violation of Probation. It is not clear if Hatfield has legal representation.
St. Augustine Alligator Farm did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
source: people.com
