Going Gator

An old friend takes another moonlit dip with the gators:

He was naked. In a pond. In the dark. There were alligators.

Sound familiar?

Ask the two deputy sheriffs who found Adrian Apgar nude early Friday, wading in a Lakeland-area pond.

Apgar told the officers he was looking for an alligator.

About 15 months ago, one tried to eat him.

He made national news in November 2006 when deputies rescued him from the jaws of a huge alligator in Lake Parker. He was naked when they pulled him from the lake in east Lakeland off U.S. Highway 92.

During that attack, deputies engaged in a tug of war with the alligator.

The reptile ripped off much of Apgar's left arm and bit his back, buttocks and thigh. Apgar spent months recovering from his life-threatening injuries at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

On Friday, Polk County Sheriff Grady Judd said his deputies had once again saved Apgar's life, possibly rescuing him from another alligator attack.

About midnight Thursday, a patrol deputy spotted an unoccupied pickup truck parked near a pond at Saddle Creek Park on U.S. Highway 92 between Lakeland and Auburndale.

The deputy checked the truck's tag, and afterward, realizing Apgar owned the truck, called for another deputy familiar with the 2006 attack.

The deputies searched the park for Apgar and eventually found him in the pond walking toward an alligator about 50 feet offshore. The only way to that location was through thick brush.

The deputies talked Apgar, 47, safely out of the water. He told them he had been bitten by a snake while looking for the alligator.

He was hospitalized at Lakeland Regional under the state law that allows people to be held for evaluation if they appear to be a threat to themselves or others.

"I feel sorry for him because obviously he's got mental issues," Judd said.

"This guy lost his arm, was in the hospital for months . . . and now he's back . . . "

Judd said credit goes to his deputies, who "ultimately saved the guy's life."

When a sergeant at the scene shone his flashlight into the pond, several sets of alligator eyes were looking back.

"He had more than ample opportunity to wander off and drown himself," Judd said.

After the first attack, deputies said Apgar told them he had been smoking crack cocaine, a statement he later denied. A doctor reported Apgar told him he had been smoking methamphetamines before the attack, and a nurse said he tested positive for marijuana and methamphetamines.

"He's not just a menace to society, he's a menace to himself," Judd said.

"He's past being comical; he has real issues."

Apgar never responded to multiple requests for interviews after the 2006 attack. A voice mail left on his listed telephone number was not returned Friday.

Judd said Apgar will face criminal charges, including trespassing.

Well, I'm glad they went to check on him when they saw his license plate. It's not too surprising he got Baker Acted for this. I wonder though, do his criminal charges include attempting to feed an alligator?

Here's the 911 call from 2006.