Alligator Gets Fished Out Of Habitat At Theme Park, Bites Boy
VALPARAISO, Ind. (CBS) -- An alligator bit a 7-year-old boy at a theme park in Northwest Indiana over the weekend, after a visitor fished the reptile out of its habitat and invited children to pet it.
Ryan Strand, of Concord, N.C., was bitten by the alligator on Sunday evening at the Zao Island family entertainment center and amusement park. He was treated at the scene by emergency medical services, then taken to a hospital by his mother for additional care on his right index finger.
Katy Hurst, a manager at the venue, called police immediately after the incident at 6:45 p.m. Sunday.
At the indoor-outdoor amusement venue, alligators are kept in an outdoor pond surrounded by a fence along U.S. Route 30. Visitors can feed them hot dog chunks by dangling them from string attached to provided poles.
Hurst told police a man fashioned a noose out of one of the strings and used it to fish an alligator out of the enclosure. He then invited nearby children to pet it.
When it bit Ryan, the man put the alligator back into the exhibit and drove away in a dark-colored, extended cab pickup along with a woman and four children, one whom he carried through the parking lot, police said.
A Zao Island employee was able to identify the woman as a 24-year-old Portage, Ind., resident, but police said she was uncooperative. Police said she would not answer her phone until a relative still at Zao Island encouraged her to do so. When she did speak to police, she would not provide the man's name.
The theme park also features miniature golf, batting cages, rides and arcade games. Representatives of the park declined to comment about the incident Monday.
