‘Prankster’ tosses gator into Fla. Wendy’s drive-thru
Florida authorities have arrested a man accused of throwing a live alligator through a restaurant’s drive-thru window.
Investigators identified Joshua James of Jupiter, Florida, as the man who tossed the 3 -foot reptile into a Wendy’s last fall, according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission incident report.
He faces three charges related to the incident: aggravated assault with a deadly weapon; unlawful s a le , possession or tr a n s p o r ting of an alligator; and petty theft.
James, 24, was taken into custo dy a nd booked into the Palm Beach County Detention Center on Monday, as first reported by NBC affiliate WPTV.
The driver, wearing a baseball cap backward, arrived at the drive-thru window to receive a large drink just before 1:30 a.m. on Oct. 1 1 , according to the report’s summary of surveillance footage.
“While the attendant has her back to the window and is at her register, the male driver reaches across the inside of his vehicle in the passenger area and throws an alligator from his vehicle into the drive-thru window,” the report reads.
A photograph in the report shows the alligator flat with its legs splayed on the fast-food restaurant’s kitchen floor. An officer responding to the incident captured the alligator, taped its jaws shut “for safety” and released it into a nearby canal, according to the report.
The officer later viewed surveillance footage from an adjacent gas station, which shows what appears to be the same driver acting “suspiciously” minutes before the incident.
Once approached by authorities, James admitted to having picked up the alligator along the side of a road, driving to Wendy’s and throwing the beast through the drive-thr u window.
In an interview with WPTV, James’ parents described him as an outdoorsman and harmless prankster, adding that he viewed famous crocodile hunter and conservationist Steve Irwin as an idol.
Ed and Linda James told the station that their son was pranking a Wendy’s employee that he knew.
“It was just a stupid prank that he did that’s now turning into this; it’s stupid,” his mother told WPTV. “He’s a prankster. He does stuff like this because he thinks it’s funny.”
The American alligator is listed as “a species of special concern” in Florida, according to the state Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, which notes that “state law prohibits killing, harassing or possessing alligators.”
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