Police capture small alligator roaming Massachusetts neighborhood

Published 1:30 am Tuesday, July 5, 2016

Associated Press

LOWELL, Mass. — Police have captured a foot-long alligator that was spotted roaming around a residential Massachusetts neighborhood over the July Fourth weekend.

Lowell police said they received a call around 7:30 p.m. Sunday reporting the alligator was walking down a street in the city’s Highlands neighborhood. Responding officers located the animal along the side of the road.

Animal control officers arrived on the scene and took custody of the alligator. It was transported to a facility specializing in reptile rehabilitation for an evaluation.

There’s no word on where the alligator came from.

This isn’t the first time an alligator has turned up in Lowell.

The Boston Globe reports a two-foot alligator was spotted swimming in the city’s Merrimack Canal in 2012.