Cops arrest gator-carrying bicyclist

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BOUTTE, La., Aug. 13 (UPI) -- A Louisiana man riding a bicycle with an alligator around his neck was arrested after he dropped the reptile on the ground and ran off as police approached.

St. Charles Parish sheriff's deputies said they spotted Terron Ingram, 38, riding his bicycle with a 3-foot alligator around his neck Friday in Boutte. The man tossed the gator and jumped off his bicycle when he saw authorities approaching him to ask questions, The (New Orleans) Times-Picayune reported Thursday.

Capt. Pat Yoes, a spokesman for the sheriff's office, said deputies do not know where Ingram obtained the alligator.

"We don't know what his intentions were," Yoes said.

Ingram was arrested and charged with cruelty to animals by abandonment, resisting arrest, possession of drug paraphernalia and other charges. He was being held in lieu of $15,000 bond.

Alligator Control Officer Kenny Schmill said the gator was not harmed and had been released into a marsh near Bayou Gauche, La.