A Florida woman found herself in hot water after she stole an alligator from her old job to use in a birthday photoshoot and kept the animal in her bathtub, the Federal Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission said in a statement. Madison Stephan, 25, claimed Croc Encounters, a wildlife park in Tampa where she used to work, had given her permission to keep the alligator as a parting gift of sorts. That was clearly untrue.
- Someone turned Stephan in for her crimes. The Orange County Sheriff’s Office received an anonymous tip from someone who was concerned about Madison Stephan being in possession of an alligator in her home on September 4. The tip came from someone who’d seen the alligator in Stephan’s bathtub at the Grove Resort and Water Park in Winter Garden.
- When authorities arrived, they found the animal right where they were told it would be. Officer Navarino entered the woman’s room, where they found the juvenile alligator in the bathtub. That’s when she told police that it was all above board and she was allowed to keep it.
- Stephan claimed she had only “borrowed” the alligator. She needed it to take photos for her birthday at the resort, according to the Miami Herald. In reality, she’d broken into Croc Encounters with a key she’d kept from her employment at the park and went inside to take the animal without permission.
- She planned to keep the alligator for five days. That’s how long Madison Stephan was spending at the resort. However, the officer noted that the animal wasn’t doing all that well when it was found as it was “cold to the touch” after being in the cold bath water for a while.
- Croc Encounters decided not to pursue charges. They confirmed that Stephan had taken the alligator without permission, but lucky for her, they decided to let it slide. Nevertheless, police did charge her with misdemeanor unlawful sale, possession, or transportation of alligators or alligator skins.
