OAKLAND, Florida — A woman is accused of stealing an alligator from a Tampa zoo and taking it to a hotel in Orange County where it was kept in a bathtub, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission explains.
In an incident report, FWC explains an officer was sent out to the Grove Resort and Water Park to help deal with a young gator being kept inside the hotel's bathtub.
The woman who took the alligator, 26-year-old Madison Stephan, reportedly told the officer she got the animal from Croc Encounters where she used to work.
Stephan claimed she "borrowed" the reptile without permission to bring to the hotel and take photos with for her birthday, the report explains. She allegedly went to the zoo before it opened, used the keys she still had and took the gator.
After successfully stealing the gator, she drove to the resort where she put it in the bathtub, FWC explains.
"While in the bathroom I observed one juvenile alligator in a bathtub with water inside of it," the officer wrote in the report. "The alligator had no location where it could take itself out of the water.
"When I retrieved the alligator, it was cold to the touch from being inside the cold water."
After calling Croc Encounters, the owner, John Paner, was asked if Stephan was an employee and allowed to take the alligator from the zoo. He reportedly told authorities she wasn't given permission to be on the property or take the animal.
Paner confirmed he was missing a young alligator but declined to prosecute for the theft or trespassing.
The gator was eventually returned to Croc Encounters later that afternoon.
"We are very grateful to the responding officers who were able to get this little guy back to his proper home at Croc Encounters so he can continue to greet and educate visitors at our facility," the zoo said in a statement.
Stephan was issued a notice to appear for the possession of the alligator.