Florida Disc Golfer Attacked by Alligator in Pond

Jack Phillips
9/11/2018
Updated:
9/11/2018

Police in Clearwater, Florida, said that they were forced to haul an alligator out of a lake after it bit a man.

The man “went into the water to retrieve a flying disc from the disc golf course,” said police in a Facebook post on Sept. 10.

The man, 35, was taken Bayfront Health St. Petersburg after the incident.

The alligator, meanwhile, was 11 feet in length.

Trappers and Florida state wildlife officials were forced to haul the gator out of the lake, according to video footage of the incident.

Witnesses locked arms to pull the man, later identified as Richard Peel, to safety, said Derrick Moody, who lives nearby, according to Fox13.

“I guess they ran over and formed a ladder with each other and they were able to pull him out,” Moody told the outlet.

Officials said that Peel’s injuries do not appear to be life-threatening.

“The alligator was seen prior to him going into the water, so we always recommend that people stay away from murky waters,” Florida Wildlife Commission spokeswoman Ashley Tyer told Fox13.

Another smaller alligator was also removed from the pond.

Jack Phillips is a breaking news reporter with 15 years experience who started as a local New York City reporter. Having joined The Epoch Times' news team in 2009, Jack was born and raised near Modesto in California's Central Valley. Follow him on X: https://twitter.com/jackphillips5
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