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Title: Brevard deputies: 11-foot alligator killed accused burglar hiding in pond
Source:
Bay News
URL Source: http://www.baynews9.com/content/new ... eputies_say.html?cmpid=bluebar
Published: Dec 7, 2015
Author: Greg Pallone
Post Date: 2015-12-08 08:43:38 by cranky
Keywords: None
Views: 454
Comments: 4
An accused burglar is dead after Brevard County deputies said he hid in a pond while on the run and was killed by an 11-foot-long alligator. Matthew Riggins, 22, of Palm Bay was reported missing Nov. 13. His body was found 10 days later floating in a pond near Latan Court and Barefoot Circle, in Barefoot Bay. Investigators said it had the makings of a gator attack. Shortly before Riggins was reported missing, he called his girlfriend and told her he'd be in the area breaking into homes, deputies said. "He was going to do burglaries in the Barefoot Bay area with another individual," said Maj. Tod Goodyear, with the Brevard County Sheriff's Office. Neighbors reported to authorities that they saw two men dressed in black lurking behind homes. Deputies began searching the area and were later joined by more deputies, K-9 units and a sheriff's helicopter. Investigators said Riggins then called his girlfriend to tell her they were being chased and lying low. "Do you still here them hollering, or did they hunker down?" deputies could be heard saying on radio traffic. Deputies called off the search that night, but then Riggins' family reported him missing less than 24 hours later. "He probably went into the lake to hide from the officers and the dog, and came across that gator," Goodyear said. "To hide somewhere to try and get away, and then meeting up with an animal like that, no, I've never had that happen before." "He hid in the wrong place," said Laura Farris, a Barefoot Bay resident. The Brevard County Sheriff's Office dive team encountered the same gator while recovering the man's body, and the animal had to be euthanized by a trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. Inside the gator's stomach, the medical examiner found proof of how Riggins was killed. "I would say it's poetic justice, you want to sit there and steal from people," Barefoot Bay resident Chuck Stokes said. Investigators said the other man thought to be breaking into homes with Riggins has not cooperated with the case, but so far he has not been charged.
Matthew Riggins of Palm Bay (Brevard County Sheriff's Office)
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#1. To: cranky (#0)
It's gotta be the Sheriff's fault. If the deputies hadn't been chasing and harassing that poor man he would be alive today!
That is a shame, after the animal had done the community a service. Si vis pacem, para bellum Those who beat their swords into plowshares will plow for those who don't Rebellion to tyrants is obedience to God. There are no Carthaginian terrorists. “The object of war is not to die for your country but to make the other bastard die for his.” - George S. Patton
Bad boys, what ya gonna do, when the gator comes for you?
She sounds like a real winner,too. Too bad she wasn't with him. Why is democracy held in such high esteem when it’s the enemy of the minority and makes all rights relative to the dictates of the majority? (Ron Paul,2012) American Indians had open borders. Look at how well that worked out for them.
Deputies began searching the area and were later joined by more deputies, K-9 units and a sheriff's helicopter.
#2. To: cranky (#0)
" the animal had to be euthanized by a trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission. "
#3. To: cranky (#0)
"We (government) need to do a lot less, a lot sooner" ~Ron Paul
#4. To: cranky (#0)
Shortly before Riggins was reported missing, he called his girlfriend and told her he'd be in the area breaking into homes, deputies said.
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