Armed with a Trash Can, Brave Veteran Dad Captures and Relocates 6-Foot Alligator

When Denise Sparks of Orange County, 🌴Florida, discovered a 6-foot alligator lurking outside her home, she was not prepared to handle the situation.

Hearing a loud noise, she went outside and was met with quite the scene revolving around the unwelcome reptilian visitor.

“I would have been gator food, I would have fainted,” she told WESH-TV. “Came outside, I was like, ‘What in the world is going on?’ Because I heard a lot of boom boom boom boom.”

Thankfully, someone else was already on the case. Neighbor Eugene Bozzi (also referred to as Abdul Malik on social media) is a dad and military veteran — and both those factors influenced his decision to act quickly to contain the threat.

“I got kids to protect,” he posted in his Instagram share of the resulting video.

He approached the alligator, which was lying on a walkway in front of a house, pushing along an open, empty trash can on wheels and keeping it between himself and the gator.

A gaggle of onlookers shrieked as he advanced, pushing the gator back. It writhed and whipped its body around, resisting.

Eventually, Bozzi dropped the lid on the reptile. It continued forward into the bin. Bozzi righted the garbage can, keeping the lid pressed down, and became the victor.

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