Alligators On Crack
It seems that even the Animal Uprising™ has some bad characters. There are some alligators that have taken up with drugs, apparently. Now, they don't have opposable thumbs, so using a butane lighter is out of the question. Not to be deterred, they get their crack cocaine second hand, so to speak.
They eat the addict who just smoked some.
ORLANDO, Fla. — Carlos Mayid couldn't see Adrian Apgar being attacked by an alligator early Wednesday, but he could hear him.
With his cellphone in hand and a sheriff's operator on the line, Mayid left his home near Lake Parker, Fla., and walked down his street in the predawn darkness toward the screams of a man who was fighting for his life in the water.
In the recording of a dramatic 911 call released Thursday, Mayid is heard breathing heavily and walking through wet grass as Apgar's repeated cries grow louder. Finally, he got close enough to yell back.
"Hey. What's up? What do you need?" Mayid hollered.
"A gator's got me," Apgar replied, his voice faint in the background.
Mayid's call shortly after 4 a.m. sent four Polk County, Fla., deputies racing to the 2,150-acre lake just outside Lakeland, Fla., where they jumped into the water and wrenched Apgar's arm from the gator's mouth. The 45-year-old victim, who told authorities he'd passed out nude on the shore after smoking crack cocaine, was rushed to a hospital in critical condition.
Later Wednesday, state wildlife authorities trapped and killed a nearly 12-foot-long alligator thought to be the one that attacked Apgar.
Mayid's call was picked up by operator Josh Fulman.
"There's a guy screaming bloody murder over here, 'Help,' in front of the Moose Lodge," Mayid said. He could not be reached Thursday to elaborate on his experience.
"I can hear him from inside my house … He's screaming, 'Help, help, help, help.' "
A dramatic back-and-forth followed, with Mayid serving as the middleman between victim and operator.
….
Apgar told the deputies he had been smoking crack cocaine and fell asleep on the shore when the alligator attacked him. The area includes a strip of land with a picnic table.
But local and state officials said Thursday they don't know if Apgar was on the land or already in the water when he was attacked.
Sheriff's officials have said Apgar, 45, suffered a broken right arm. His left arm was nearly severed, and he had bites to his buttocks and leg. He underwent surgery Wednesday afternoon at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.
Well, they say crack kills. The alligator found that out. Hopefully Mr. Apgar recovers and has been scared straight by this one.
(H/T J. A. Jance via email).
By Bleepless, Friday, 1 December , 2006 @ 5:26 pm
If the authorities can’t handle junkies effectively, we might as well leave the problem up to reptiles.
By these colors run, Friday, 1 December , 2006 @ 8:18 pm
crack head eh? the rescue a complete waste of everyone’s time. m