MI Press: Roseville man surprised his gator is illegal
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Posted by W von Papineäu on November 20, 2002 at 20:37:54:
STAR-TRIBUNE (Minneapolis Minneapolis) 16 November 02 Roseville man surprised his gator is illegal
(AP): A Roseville man found himself in jail on a probation violation after buying an illegal alligator.
Jason Hegstrom, 27, said he forgot to pay a fine and appear in court last month after his 18-inch-long female alligator was found in a neighbor's swimming pool in mid-July. Alligators and other wild animals are illegal in Roseville, unless you obtain a permit with specific conditions.
"Everybody's making fun of me 'Crocodile Man,' " Hegstrom said from jail Friday.
Hegstrom, an alligator devotee since childhood, said he was surprised to learn he was being booked on the gator charge when he turned himself in for a probation violation related to a 1994 robbery charge.
Hegstrom said the pet shop where he bought the gator did not tell him that it was illegal to own one.
Sarah Richard, volunteer adoption chairwoman for the Minnesota Herpetological Society, the gator has been "placed" elsewhere, but she declined to disclose where.
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