Gator Bites Off Arm Of Man Hiding From Cops

A 21-year-old Lakeland man lost part of his left arm during a Wednesday night run-in with an alligator. Photo of a different alligator courtesy of the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.

LAKELAND, FL — A 21-year-old man trying to avoid Lakeland Police Wednesday night lost part of his left arm in an alligator attack.

According to the Lakeland Police Department, officers were called to an apartment complex on Long Lake Circle by Jessie Kinsinger’s mother. The woman told police her son was “under a doctor’s care and she needed assistance,” Sgt. Gary Gross told Patch.

Just before officers arrived on the scene, Kinsinger ran into a wooded area near the apartment complex, Gross said. Concerned for Kinsinger’s safety, police called on the Polk County Sheriff’s Office for assistance, Gross said.

The sheriff’s office brought out a helicopter and bloodhounds to help with the search.

“At some point, he (Kingsinger) swam across the lake (and) popped out,” Gross said. The helicopter unit happened to spot him when he did, which turned out to be a good thing, Gross added.

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“Three quarters of his left arm (was) bitten off by an alligator,” Gross said. “It probably just happened and the officers luckily saw him.”

The fast sighting, Gross said probably “saved his life.”

Kinsinger was taken to a local hospital for treatment following the attack. He reportedly remained hospitalized on Thursday. No charges were filed, Gross said.

The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was called to assess the situation with the alligator, Gross said. The agency generally sends out a trapper to capture alligators that are considered aggressive or nuisances.

As of Thursday, the alligator had yet to be successfully trapped, Gary Morse, FWC's spokesman, told Patch.

The attack on Kinsinger is reminiscent of a case that occurred last December in Brevard County. In that case, a burglary suspect fleeing deputies reportedly entered Barefoot Bay Lake and was subsequently eaten by an 11-foot alligator. The man’s body was found 10 days later.

That death was the second alligator-related human fatality in Florida in 2015. In October, a man was killed while swimming in the waters of Blue Spring State Park.

Despite the state’s bustling alligator population, serious attacks and fatalities are not common in Florida. Between 1948 and 2013, there were 22 fatalities recorded, according to FWC records. During that period, a total of 122 minor bites and 235 major bites were also logged. The last fatal alligator attack on record prior to this year occurred in 2007.

Alligator-related human fatalities might not be common, but encounters with the creatures are. Those encounters add up to so many over the course of any given year that the state has set up its own hotline to accept nuisance alligator calls. That number is 1-866-FWC-GATOR (866-392-4286).

In 2013 alone, the state fielded 15,036 nuisance alligator calls, which resulted in the removal of 6,605 creatures.