PISCATAWAY — You just can't make these things up.
At 12:30 p.m. yesterday, police received a call from a woman in the 1800 block of West Seventh Street who said an alligator was in her backyard.
"It was a very unusual call," said Sgt. David Powell, who arrived as backup to Patrolman John Zavistoski. Powell said the radio dispatch call indicated there was a "strange animal in the woman's backyard."
In the police cars, the Mobile Data Terminals (MDT) flashed "possible alligator."
"There was allegedly an alligator," Powell said with a laugh, adding his first thought was, "It has to be a mistake."
When he arrived, Powell said, he found Zavistoski cornering the reptile between a cyclone fence and the detached garage, where it was "hiding, per se."
Police called the township's animal-control department. The officers, the homeowner and the alligator waited only about five minutes for animal-control officers to arrive, Powell said.
However, while they waited, the 3-foot alligator "was hissing at us if we got too close. It was definitely freaky," said Powell. Alligators, like dogs or cats, show their teeth when hissing, Powell said.
Once Martin McMillan of the township's animal-control department arrived on the scene, securing the alligator in the trap was a little like a game of cat-and-mouse.
Powell said McMillan approached the alligator from behind, causing it to move toward the driveway, a movement Zavistoski later described as "more of a waddle."
As they followed in pursuit, Zavistoski manned the cage while Powell and McMillan used snares to guide the reptile into the cage.
"It was definitely a three-man effort," said Powell, who described the maneuvers as "highly tactical."
"We had him in custody in under three minutes," said Powell."Once he was safely engaged, he was rather cute."
After being locked up, the alligator was taken to a shelter in Edison that deals with endangered animals.
"It's not your average day," said Lt. George Maurer, "to see an alligator crawling around someone's yard."
Maurer, who later saw the alligator when it was in custody, said "he was an agreeable alligator."
"Maybe he was hungry or sleepy and he decided the cage wasn't a bad idea," Maurer laughed.
Police said no one had any idea where the aligator came from or how it got to Piscataway.
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