FL Tourist Hits Gator, Drives Miles With It Attached To SUV: Report

Fort Myers FL

22 April, 2022

1:48 PM

Description

COLLIER COUNTY, FL — A Naples-based towing company received a unique call from a tourist driving near the Everglades early Monday morning: the motorist hit a gator crossing U.S. 41 around 2 a.m. and kept going. What United States Transport Towing & Recovery didn't realize when they received the call about a broken-down vehicle was that there was a gator affixed to the bottom of the disabled SUV. The motorist ran over the gator in Collier County and continued driving, not even realizing that he hit the reptile, according to NBC 2. The tow truck driver, Joshua Schroeder, responded to the scene, unaware of what was getting into. "Another late-night (tow) for United States (Towing). When we say we do anything, we can do anything," the towing company shared on Facebook. "(The) guy (hit) an alligator going down U.S. 41 and we came to the rescue (to) tow the car and the gator." When Schroeder arrived, he found the dead gator stuck to the bottom of the SUV. "The car impaled it. Went right through the body," he told NBC 2. The driver told him that he "felt something in the road" and eventually stopped, according to reports. The car traveled about 31 miles with the dead gator attached to it — back and forth from the tow yard to the dealership and body shop — before it was removed by United States Transport. Patch has reached out to United States Transport Towing & Recovery for comment.