A Florida man died after crashing his car into an 11-foot alligator in a rural roadway in Alafia River State Park early Thursday morning, March 24, officials said.
John Hopkins, 59, was driving eastbound on Country Road 672 in Lithia, which is 30 miles east of Tampa, when at about 12:30 a.m. his car collided with the massive reptile in the middle of the road, the Hillsborough County Sheriff's Office said.
The vehicle steered out of control and flipped into a ditch on the north side of the road, according to the release.
"The front of the victim’s vehicle struck an approximately 11-foot long alligator that was in the roadway," the sheriff’s office said.
A motorist passing through the area noticed the wreck and called 911.
Hopkins was pronounced dead at the scene, the agency said. The impact killed the alligator as was well.
Sheriff’s spokesman Marco Villarreal said it’s unclear where the alligator came from or where it was going, adding that the crash site is about 2 miles west of 6,312-acre Alafia River State Park, where its waters are known to host the apex predators, the Miami Herald reported.
This is an ongoing investigation and no further details were revealed at the time of this writing.
A similar incident was reported in Florida last July when a cyclist suffered serious injuries after being attacked by an 8 to 10-foot alligator.
The man fell off his bike at Halpatiokee Regional Park in Stuart and landed very close to a giant female alligator who was near her nest.
The biker was brutally mauled by the giant reptile before he was pulled out of the water by a bystander, the Martin County Sheriff's Office had said.
Paramedics rushed to the spot and loaded the man into a medevac helicopter at Halpatiokee Regional Park immediately after the attack. He was then flown to Lawnwood Regional Medical Center with traumatic injuries, the MCSO said.
The gator was later captured alive at the park.
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