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Caught on camera: Child helps wrangle alligator on MLK Parkway

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office had to call for backup Monday night after an alligator ended up on Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway.

The gator was out in the middle of the road when a marked JSO patrol car rolled up.

Officers were standing around when the gator decided to go into action and ended up crawling under the officer’s patrol car!

The large reptile seemed very content with its new location and it took another 10 minutes for backup to arrive to help remove the gator.

A wrangler used a catch pole to drag the gator out from under the car. It didn’t take very long for the wrangler to force the gator out, and the gator’s jaw was wide open when it was dragged from under the car.

The gator was not happy and could be seen whipping back and forth and fighting the wrangler. The gator ended up doing barrel rolls on the side of the road. (We lost count of how many.)

Eventually, the gator calmed down long enough for the wrangler to sit on top of it, and that’s when he called over a special helper.

A child can be seen on camera, helping to tape up the gator’s mouth. News4JAX has learned the boy comes from a family of alligator trappers.

The wrangler loaded the gator in the trunk of his car where it curled up inside the trunk.