Florida Fish and Wildlife officers received a complaint that someone had alligators in their swimming pool. On August 23rd, 2024, officers made contact with the suspect, later identified as a 42-year-old male named Robert. You doing how's it going? Hey, Jared Flynn. What's your name? Here. How you doing today? Well, it depends. To be determined. So, look. So, I come to talk to you and I ask you a few questions. All right. All right. Do you have any idea why I'd be here? No, not really. No idea? No. None whatsoever. All right. So, here's the deal. I come to ask you a couple questions. I'm going to ask you a few questions. I'm going to read you your rights. All right. You have any weapons or knives on you? Guns, anything like that? Nothing on you? Good to go. All right. So, here's something I'm going to read. What's this about first? Well, he's going to explain it, but he's got to read you your rights so you understand them first. I'm just going to start with this. That way, we're on the clear. All right. Can I make a phone call? No, not right now. We're going to talk to you first. We're going to talk to you first. All right. All right. So, you have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in court. Do you understand these rights? Okay. With these rights in mind, do you wish to speak to me now? I said I don't know what y'all are here for. Okay. So, like I said, I you know, there's no reason why you think I'd be here. Okay. Um, so I'm a fishing I'm I know y'all are I'm fishing wildlife. All right, cool. So, basically, I'm going to ask you a few questions. All right. I know the answer already. I just want I'm just going to be upfront and honest with you. I want you to be up front and honest with me back. All right. Okay. Make sense? Okay. All right. Here's the deal. How many alligators do you have in your swimming pool? I don't have none. My ex-girlfriend's friend put two of them in there. I've been trying to get a hold of y'all and I keep getting different numbers to call. So, there's two alligators in your swimming pool right now. I did not put them in there. I can give you the person's name who put them in there. Can we go take a look at them? Yeah. Well, we'll follow you. I didn't put them in there. I've been trying to get them on the house for Is there anybody else home right now in the house? No. My ex moved out. That's okay. And her friend put them in there. Okay. live in the county. I don't know where he's living at. I kicked him after I found out what he done. Okay. I want to get in trouble for this. And by find out what he done, what do you mean by that? When he when I walked back here to my pool and seen what was in there. Okay. How long have they been in here for? Yeah, I kicked them out probably about two and a half months ago. Every time I call you all, try to get a hold of you guys. There's one down there. Every time I try to get a hold of you guys, it keeps giving me different numbers to call. Every time I call the numbers, I leave messages and can't get nowhere. Okay. There's another one in here somewhere. I don't know where it went, but there's two of them in here. All right. So, how long have they been in here? There's the other one. They've been in here probably about two and a half, three months. Every time I call, I leave messages trying to get a hold of you guys and can't get nowhere beyond that. Nobody called me back. So, when did a puppy? So when Okay, I see them both now. Yeah, they're both So when did these get put into your They've been here They've been in here two and a half, three months. Yes, somewhere around there. Yes. Okay. And then how long you said who put them in here? A guy named Jill. And you said that was How is he related to you? He's a friend of my ex-girlfriends that was staying here when I got out of jail. Okay. So how long does she live here now? No, she does not. She got moved out and everything like that already. So, she lives in town somewhere. Gotcha. Um, last I knew Dylan was somewhere around Ocala. He came from uh his cousin's house that was out here off of 314 right there behind Newbie's Corner. So, how long has she been moved out for? She's been moved out for about January. She's already gone in January. So, you've had these alligators here since January? That I don't know. I know about two and a half, three months that I know of because that's when he was here and she came out for a couple months, about a month to visit cuz I got out and we've been trying to work on how to get her son back. Okay. How are these alligators still alive? Cuz it is August now. Who's feeding him? I'm not. Okay. I don't want nothing to do with them. Okay. But I've been trying to get a hold of your office and then he gives me a different number and every time I call I leave a message. Well, if you if you've been calling us multiple times, why did you not know that? That's why we were here. Yeah. I don't know why y'all are here. This I just totally slipped my mind up about them being in here. Okay. So, you do know that these are illegal to have in your pool. Yeah. That's why I've been trying to call you all to come out here because I don't want to get in trouble for this. You have any proof that you were calling us like on phone? maybe missed like calls that we can match up to our numbers records or anything like that. It'll help you out if you have most of my stuff I always go through and wipe out cuz I got my own business. Okay. So, I'm always getting phone calls coming in and out. So, who would have a record that you called us? What number have you been calling? The uh whatever I found there online for the FWC. You know, just step back one foot. So you don't drop your phone in the pool, man. I ain't worried about that. Okay. You'd be surprised. I've seen people do sillier things. Don't want you to drop your phone, especially if that's got the numbers you were calling on it. Did you um I'm sorry if I missed the conversation. Did you catch him out of this lake right here? Dad, I don't know where he got him from. I didn't show you the uh person that done it. Let's see here. They're calling the uh 732 number. which is this number right here that I just said accidentally when I went to look it up. So you said it's what? That number. So go back to your phone call list. Well, I just done that one cuz I just Yeah, that's fine. But like I said, most of my phone calls I keep our office is now Most mine I keep you deleting because I get so many so many phone calls all the time. Isn't that aggravating? Like the rooc calls and whatnot. I mean, would you mind searching the phone number that you've called to see if one pops up? Like I said, I'm just trying to help you out at this point, right? And now I understand that I'm about to go to jail for something that I didn't do. No, no one no one ever said you're going to jail. I I know how this works. That's why we're here. Look, we're trying to I've been I started right up. I don't want to go to jail for I didn't do I can give you the person's Facebook profile and everything. I I mean I started right up front with you is if you're telling me the truth, we can sort this out. We can figure this out, sir. If that is the truth, I'm telling you the truth 100%. It is not certain that you're going to jail. By the way, just don't don't get caught up on that. Like I said, I can give you the person's Facebook page and everything that stuck him in here. It's one of the reasons why he got kicked out. How long ago? How long have they been in this pool? about two and a half, three months that I know of. Do you feed them? No, I don't want nothing to do with them. Nobody feeds them. I don't know. There is a couple little fish that's swimming in here, but that's about it. I don't want nothing to do with them. I don't feed them. I don't even come back to this pool. I've been trying to get a hold of you guys to come out to take Well, that that's I'll just be 100%. Like I said, I'm being 100% honest with you. 100% honest, too, sir. So, I have nothing to lie about. I I don't want nothing to do with I don't want him in my pool. I want to fix my pool back up. I hear you. I had a turtle in here at one time, but I wound up taking him out. And that's why the logs are in here because I had a turtle in here at one time. Gotcha. But that was before I went to jail. Gotcha. Back in January. I just We respond to several calls a day, right, of people call us for you name it, we've gotten called for it. Bag of trash in the woods, people building on a lot of goss. Everyone seems to find a way to get a hold of us. So, and I've been trying. I've called several times, left messages cuz here's the person that put them in there. Okay. Do you have anything that shows that he took them and put them in there? Any text message conversations? Anything? Why are these alligators in my pond? I don't talk to him on Facebook. Any pictures? How do you How do you talk to him normally? I don't. This is a friend of my ex-girlfriend. So, have you ever asked I can I can contact him. Yes. Have you ever asked anybody to get these alligators out of your pond? I asked him several times to take them out via in person while he was here. Does he live Where does he live? He lives uh last I knew he was staying somewhere at his cousin's house off 314 over there behind Newbie's Corner. Okay. Are y'all are you friends with him somewhat? Can you get him on the phone? So that that being if you call his name was Dylan Anderson and correct me if I'm wrong. If you call him Dylan Andrews and do not tell him that we are here and say and see what he says when you ask him to get these alligators out of your pond. What do you think he'll say? Yeah. Put him on speaker phone. He probably ain't going to say nothing. You go act dumb because he's been in jail for a while. He's in and out. All you have to do is ask him say, "Hey man, when are you going to come get these gators?" on speaker phone and then if he does say he put them in there, great. We can we can work through this It's hitting the red button on you, right? I got you. Who else would know who you have? No pictures, no text message conversations, no nothing about, hey, get the alligator out of my pool. No, cuz he was here when I was telling him to get him out. Then I finally kicked his ass out because I got tired of them coming in here with drugs like that. Okay. I'm trying to get my kids back cuz right now my kids are at my mom's house because of everything that happened back in January. So, is there anything you can show me today that shows anything that you can show me like proof that you've tried to contact us or that you did not put these out? Like I said, I keep deleting all my stuff because I own my own business. I rebuild hydraulics. Okay. So, hydraulic my phone out because hydraulic lines or rams? Both. Both. I got a hydraulic shot. Gotcha. Um, let me see that name real quick. Dylan. Yes. Like I said, last I know he lived over off was staying at his cousins over there off of a 314. Okay. Right there behind Newbie's Corner. And then now, do you care if we walk around and just look around while we're here? Is that fine with you? Do you have any other critters other than the I saw the turtles in the pond? I got the turtles out front. Any other alligators? Baby ones? I don't even want these in here. I want my pull back. Okay, we can go and look down by your pond. We can look around. That's fine with you. I got it. I'm gonna push back on you a little bit though, bud. I think you're Yes. Um the first thing out of your mouth when he asks you if you know why we're here. If you would have been being honest with us, you would have said you're probably here about the alligators. They they're not even in my mind cuz I don't pay I don't want nothing to do with them. They're not mine. I don't want them. I don't want to get in trouble for something I didn't do. But when you understand do you understand where I'm coming from? When a when when a when a fish and wildlife officer knocks on your door and you have alligators in your pool, you should have made that connection and I know you did. So you were deceiving us a little bit there. No, sir. I tried not to mess with you all because I know how you all are. I always deal with FWC whenever I'm out fishing and stuff like that. I'm up front and honest that yes, it just slipped my mind on why you'all were here because I don't want nothing to do with them. I have no I don't even walk around that thing cuz I know they're in there. I don't want to get attacked. Well, listen, man. We've got to connect the dots here. We need to know who pulled these alligators and when. It's not the crime of the century, you know what I mean? But we have a job to do. We need to explain where they came from and who's responsible for it. They probably came out of this lake back here. This is the only lake really around. No, that sounds believable, man, because that looks exactly most likely like what happened. Um, I would I cleaned up the beach and everything when I had a bobcat here not that long ago. But the way the way things stand right now, you are the only one that we have that's in possession of them. So, we need you to help us get you try to get him here. Get him on the phone. Get him here. I can try to get him here. I don't know if I need one of y'all's cards to where I call you back when I can have him here and arrange him to be here because he just seen I just tried calling him see the freshly killed G. No, I did not see that. I got a whip. Yeah. That's been laying there the whole time for a little while now. That's I'm leaving there because if you all would have showed up then I can go hear something else. You know, I mean I'm trying to work with you all. I don't want I don't want to get in trouble for this. Oh, I got you. I know it's an arrestable offense. I know it's jail time. I know it's a felony. It can be. Yes. Robert, can I be honest with you about something? Like I told you, man. When when this officer asks you why do you think we're here? Stop playing on your phone for just a second cuz I want to be sure you're listening to me, please. When he asked you, why do you think we're here? FWC Fish and Wildlife officers in your front yard. You know, you have two alligators in your pool in your backyard. That was an opportunity for you to show us good faith and be honest with us, right? Like I said, I don't pay no attention to them. I don't listen to me. No, no, I don't think you do. Yes, sir. I sure you're right. I should say, hey, maybe let me make my point. Let me make my point. Like, you you miss an opportunity to show us that you can be trusted and that you're going to be honest with us, okay? Whether it was deliberate or it slipped your mind, right? So, here's a second opportunity with that not so long ago killed alligator sitting in your front yard. I don't buy for a second that you don't know how that got there or how that alligator died. So, please the person that had that put them to remember he said he came here knowing answers to questions and it was your opportunity to be honest. So, help us help you cuz here's here's the deal, dude. You can either get put in handcuffs and go to jail tonight or you can help us and be honest with us a little bit. And I promise you, it goes a long way. It goes a long way because we I know you've had a rough road and you're trying to get your life back on track. Don't let that derail it. You know what I mean? So, how did that alligator die? I don't know. I don't I'm being 100% honest here. You're not. No, you're not. Yes, I am. How how how is there an If there was an alligator head in my yard, I would know how it got there. The same person that put them in there. Smell it. When When's How long ago was he here? I think you said it's been a couple months. I kicked him out. He put them in there probably about two, three months ago. I just kicked him out maybe last month, the month before. Location is between. How do you know he killed that alligator? I'm not killing alligator. is still floppy on it. It's not even hard to drive. I'm not killing alligators. I love the alligators. I love the black bears. I love Well, listen. Even if Let me back up. I think you might have the wrong idea. Even if you killed it, that can be understood. You've got little dogs. You live on a lake. Gator tail tastes good. I just need I just need some honesty from you, dude. Cuz I don't buy for a second that you've got two alligators in your pool, forgot they were there, and now you have a dead alligator in your backyard and have no idea how it got here. So you're you are tempting us to just stop talking to you and take you to jail. I'm us standing here talking to you with you not in handcuffs is being nice. Okay. Now let me ask question. If I did kill that one because of my dogs and my 20 cats, what would that happen? Am I going to jail? It would mean that you're being honest with me, which goes a long way. Am I going to go to jail, though? I need you to be honest with me. We'll make that determination there because we're still doing an investigation, buddy. If we if we came up came here with our minds made up that you were going to jail, which before we ever stepped foot in your yard, we had enough to take you to jail. If our minds listen to me, if our minds were made up, you would be in handcuffs right now. The fact that you're not means that we're trying to do business with you, but we need you to be honest with us and give us something. Okay, I'm sorry. Yes, I did kill that one. I do got a dog and I got 20 cats in this yard that love going down by that way. Have you ever lost a dog or a cat to an alligator? Yes. That sucks. That's a natural part of Florida. That I know. Dogs or cats? Uh, cats. Really? He's the only dog that I got. Yeah. And he's prime gator bait size, right? Um, how do you know you lost cats? Did you see it happen or you just saw it? Well, that's really Wow. They get down close to the water and alligators. Yeah, they love going down that water. But cats are quick, man. I can see a dog getting got, but cats are usually the ones hunting, but alligators are pretty sneaky. Um, so tell me how you how you came to kill that alligator. Was he one you pulled out of the lake or one that was in the No, he was down here. How did you catch him? Rope with a hook or No, the rope is Oh, you just kind of kind of lassoed lassoed him and pulled him in. So he let you get closer to him, huh? Yeah. Now he came he come right up to you. About how big was that alligator? Probably about seven foot. Yeah, it's about the same size as those in the pool, isn't he? Yeah, that much smaller in the pool a little bit. Five or six foot. That one there, he come right up to you. Even if I was down there, he walked come right up to you. Yeah, that means somebody somebody's been feeding him because there is several people on this lake that I have seen feed out there before. And that's an opportunity, man, because nobody needs these gators. No, the one guy a couple houses down had him come all the way up to him while he was out there trying to get water out of the lake where it's full. I got you. You're worried about your pets. You have an alligator who's obviously not afraid of people who will come up to you without opening a law book. What do you think the right thing to do would have been? Probably call you all for a nuisance game. So you know that. Yeah, absolutely. Man, we have we fully recognize that nuisance alligators are a real thing because sometimes they get ruined by people feeding them and then they are naturally attracted to small animals. So even if somebody hasn't been feeding them, um the fact that he's not afraid of you and he's coming up close to your animals, our our our nuisance our our snap program would have come out here and removed him like that, but you're not allowed to do what you did. How did you how did you kill him? uh to hit him in the back of the head with Did you use a gun? It's okay. I don't have no gun. I'm a fellow. So, how'd you kill him? Not coming back. That's not going to kill an alligator pickaxe. I mean, like I said, I know it was wrong. I should have done it. Okay. Where's your pickaxe? Cuz listen, here's the thing, man. If once you start once you start a tangled web, as you're learning, we keep pulling on threads and stuff. So, it's you tell me you did it with a pickaxe. I'm gonna ask you to see your pickaxe and then I'm going to go look at the skull on the alligator and it better have a hole in it that matches your You know what I mean? So, don't make this more complicated than it needs to be. Just This is the time to just It's only ahead. Where's the rest of them at? Buried. Buried where? Right there. Right there. Yeah. Got a couple. So, how did you kill him? Is it buried where he's standing right now? Want me to dig it up? Want me to dig it? LT, where that dirt's piled up right there? You want So he ain't got to do it. All right, let's take a step. How deep is he? Not deep. Okay, let's take a step back now. So, you said before you went into jail, you had a turtle. Yes. Okay. So, you like reptiles? I like turtles. You like turtles? Okay. Nothing that's going to bite and kill me. I hear you. But you do. I just want you to look at it from my perspective. I understand where you all are coming from. I'm the only one here. I'm the one that's going to get punished for it. No. Well, here's the thing. You are the one here. You're the only person who lives in this house. The maligators have been there for you said how many months after the guy you're saying put him in there, put him in there. Probably a couple months. Like I said, I just kicked him out probably last month, month, month and a half ago. I got tired of it. I just have a hard time believing that you could not get a hold of us within a month. I recommend you can't get a hold of us in a day. I've tried several times to get a hold of you all even back before all this even happened. several times back long time ago cuz I can call my dispatch right now and ask. Even when I call the sheriff's department, I had a bear that got into my house. It took me almost two weeks to get a hold of you all to come out here and set a trap for a bear. Yes. Well, you throw your household trash in the pit right here, man. But this was back before all that. Okay. I literally had a trap out front. Let's Let's focus Let's keep our conversation right here, man. Let's focus on now that you're Tell them the truth. Um, do you want to revise the story on how these two got in your pool? You want to change that? I put them in there. I did. Can I tell you something? Whether you put them in there or not, I know it's my responsibility. I'm the homeowner. I'm the one that's going to get charged. So, the the potential consequences of those alligators being in your pool are the same whether you put them there or somebody else put them there. You got me? because right now you're the one that's in possession. So, it's not going to hurt you to tell us the truth. And in fact, like I've emphasized to you, it helps us help you a little bit when we get cooperation. And then if you if you end up standing before a judge, it goes a long way. Instead of him seeing in our report that you deceived us and you deceived us and you deceived us and you deceived us, if he sees that Robert Robert Yes. is uh if he sees that Robert was cooperative and honest with us and had a cooperative attitude for what it's worth, man. I'm not trying to manipulate you. I'm telling you the real world. How long ago did you kill him? Probably been a month, month and a half, maybe. Thank you for being honest with us on that one. I didn't want to dig a hole and not find anything. I'll take a responsibility for that one cuz I did kill that one because of my animals. The two in there I did not put in there. I'm 100% on it. But like I know like you said I should have called and had y'all come out here and traffic it. I mean that's my own stupidity. Now it just cost me going back to jail. This is going to be a learning experience for you. You're fine right now, man. I already know what's going to happen, sir. No, just just relax, dude. Relax. I'm not dumb. I already know what's going to happen over that right there alone is just going to get near. There's no hole in it. Broke the front of it off. I know. I don't I don't want to pull the rest out and it's starting to slip. No, no, no. All right, Mr. Williams, you see him? All right. Turn right back. Can I call my mom to where she can come over and get my dog? Absolutely. Yeah. We're not going to h up on a dog, man. We don't want the dog to suffer at all. Lock my house up. Yeah, man. We're We're not going to We're not trying to screw you, buddy. We're going to know as soon as you showed up. We don't think I'm not done. All right, let's just go. We're just going to go over a couple more facts while we're here. All right. So, closest date or time frame on when this alligator here was killed? Probably about a month. About a month ago. Yes, sir. Um, the ones in your pool, how long have they been in your pool for? Probably about 2, three months. All right. I'm just going to put on speaker and let you talk. Okay. Hello. Come over here and get the dog to lock my house up in my gate, please. Why? Cuz I'm going to jail. Why? cuz I killed an alligator and there's two gators that Dylan put in my pool. All right, we'll be over there in a couple minutes. All right. All right. Bye. She just lives right down the road. Okay. Okay. This your mom. Yeah. So, hang tight right here. Okay. What kind are they? I see swings. Mom sounded nice. Uh, so freshwater turtles actually. I think it's it's some sort of cooter, I think. But there's five little ones in there. Little ones. Yeah. Twice. And then where did they come from? I was when I was out back cleaning up around the lake, I had that big pile of dirt down there. Yeah. I went to flatten it out and I disturbed one of the nests, so I sort of hatched them. Okay. So, they were on the bank of your pond down there. Gotcha. How small are they? Oh, okay. Yeah, they're small. Small. They're still babies. Okay. I got you. That's why I can't find them. I'm looking for something a little bit larger. But nonetheless, man, it's We don't have to find them. Find them. What am I supposed to do now? Dad's up there in the VA hospital. I've got nobody here to help me. Why? Excuse me, ma'am. He wants you to have his phone. Thank you. I took responsibility for the gator that I killed. Dylan get the [ __ ] you kill a gator for? because there's a dog and the cat already got a couple of them. Ma'am, meanwhile, I've got a husband sitting up in the could possibly lose his foot. Your brother's not here, ma'am. And now I got nobody. Ma'am, what what's your name? Thelma. Thelma, I'm Swain with FWC. I hate that we're meeting like this. Can I ask you something? A favor, please. Sure. I know you're going through a lot and I know this is very inconvenient, but I I was letting you come down here to help him as a courtesy to him. So, I I I need you to try to I'm not telling you don't be upset, but I don't want you to escalate this and make him upset, too, cuz he cares about you. He said that when you hung up the phone earlier. No, I've got nobody here to help me. Hopefully, I can't bail you out. I don't have the money. So, you got two more. Taking up cooters is always illegal. Um, and there's a freshwater turtle ban. I would be up to do the cooter because the ban you have to handright. All right. Is there anything else you need? Anything else you need to tell them? Nothing. In the end, Robert was charged with two counts of illegal possession or capturing of alligators, taking alligators without a trapping license, and taking or possessing soft shell turtles. On December 11th, 2024, he was adjudicated guilty for one possession of capturing alligators charge, a thirdderee felony. The remaining charges were dropped. He was sentenced to 90 days in jail and ordered to pay $947.50 in cost and fees. If you like this video and want to see more like it, subscribe to Arrest Cam.