HENDRY COUNTY, Fla. — Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officers were responding to a call in reference to a man trespassing and found two dead alligators beaten and bruised in the man's truck along with a loaded rifle.
FWC Officers responded to a call in reference to trespassers on Gerber Grove, off Sears Road South of Labelle, in Hendry County around 1 PM on Febuary 23.
According to the report, once officers arrived at the scene the Grove Manager had verified that there were trespassers and that the suspects were in a white Ford vehicle.
A deputy at the scene told officers that he had the id’s of the three men involved along with a loaded 22lr action rifle that was in the truck according to the report.
The deputy had also told FWC officers that the driver of the vehicle was Ronaldo De Souza.
When FWC officers looked through the bed of De Souza’s truck, there were two alligators reportadly lying on their backs dead.
De Souza said that they came from a ditch on a friend’s property. When the officers asked where the ditch was located, they could only find the address to the friend's home located in Labelle.
De Souza said that he killed both the gators.
Officers searched the vehicle and reportedly found 13 more .22lr rounds.
Officers say that they analyzed the wounds of the gators and that one of them appeared to have been hit with a blunt object at the base of the skull. The other gator reportedly had an apparent gunshot just above the eyes.
Desouza was placed under arrest and transported to Hendry County Sheriff’s office and charged with two counts of illegal take of an alligators and one count of armed trespassing according to the report.
