LAKELAND, Fla. (AP) - A Florida man has been charged with killing an alligator and trying to sell its meat.
Local news outlets report that 33-year-old Shaun Edward Sparks was arrested Sunday and charged with two counts of possessing and killing an alligator.
The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission says residents in a Lakeland neighborhood called authorities Sunday afternoon, saying Sparks was trying to sell them an alligator tail. A licensed trapper responded and found the seven-foot alligator's carcass. The animal had been stabbed multiple times.
After his arrest, Sparks told officers he had taken to meat home to show his girlfriend, 27-year-old Christy Michelle Vincent. She was also arrested and charged with a single count of possessing an alligator.
Jail records didn't list attorneys for Sparks or Vincent.
(Copyright 2017 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.)
