Police officers had to ‘arrest’ this alligator after it showed up in a shopping centre car park

An alligator has had a brush with the law after finding its way into a grocery store car park.

Sergeant Mark Tuls and Deputy Lincoln Dilling of the Sarasota County Sheriff’s office arrived on the scene to find the small reptile hiding underneath an SUV.

The alligator resisted attempts to bring it into custody, but eventually it was brought under control, with police taping its mouth shut and loading it into the back of their squad car to be released away from humans.