Video Shows NJ Alligator Attempting Sweet Escape Before Capture

Police in Piscataway have released bodycam footage showing the capture of the rogue alligator more than a week after it was spotted in a Central Jersey park (scroll for video).

The 4-foot alligator captured in Piscataway.
Photo Credit: *Piscataway PD*

The captured alligator behind bars.
Photo Credit: *Middlesex PD*

Fishing and swimming is banned at the park.
Photo Credit: *Middlesex Borough PD*

by Jon Craig & Cecilia Levine

09/09/2023 7:51 a.m.

The 56-second clip shows the 4-foot gator running from officers who spotted him in front of a home near 2nd Avenue Thursday night, Sept. 7. The alligator was first spotted on Wednesday, Aug. 30.

Officers can be seen following the gator until it stops on a grassy area. That's when Patrolman Ian Paglia held the reptile's head and tail with his feet, until the New Jersey Department of Environmental Protection's Fish & Wildlife Division took custody of him.

This location of the capture happened approximately 400 yards southwest of the Ambrose Brook. The reptile was taken to the Cape May County Zoo.

Middlesex Police Chief Matthew P. Geist said, “The presence of this alligator in our waterways posed a threat to the public safety of our community, which is our paramount mission as a police department."

Victor Crowell Park has been reopened to the public, however, there remains no fishing or swimming.

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