Cleveland police dispatcher knew zoo would take caiman, said she would tell officers to kill it; officers express remorse

CLEVELAND, Ohio — When a state wildlife officer shot a caiman Monday evening, a Cleveland police dispatcher, a Metroparks dispatcher and a state wildlife officer all knew the Cleveland Metroparks Zoo was willing to take the caiman.

The Metroparks ranger dispatcher had arranged for the caiman to go to the zoo Tuesday morning, but as he tried to explain the plan to a Cleveland police dispatcher, she interrupted, telling him “not to worry about it, she would instruct her officers to put the alligator down.”

Then she hung up, according to the park dispatcher’s written report.

The conversation occurred after a police dispatcher had contacted a Division of Wildlife official, who then called the Metroparks dispatcher to see if the zoo would take the reptile.

The parks dispatcher called zoo veterinarian Tony Lesh at home. Lesh said the reptile could be kept overnight in a “dog crate, secure garage or a trunk of a car, if no other option was available; then keep the car out of direct sunlight.”

The parks dispatcher then called the wildlife official, “Bartczak,” back and told him the zoo would take the caiman. Bartczak asked the dispatcher to call him back with the details because he was busy with a boater emergency.

Apparently because Wildlife Officer Bartczak was busy, Wildlife Officer Hollie Fluharty met at Edgewater Park with the Cleveland police officers who had the 2-foot caiman, with its mouth taped shut, on the back seat of their police car.

The officer told Fluharty “that there were several failed attempts to find a home for the caiman,” including the zoo, so “the animal was given to Fluharty to be dispatched,” wildlife spokeswoman Jamey Graham said during an interview Tuesday.

“Fluharty had no reason to doubt the officers,” so she shot it in the head with a .22-caliber rifle, Graham said.

Patrolmen Michael Brelo and Shawn Huff responded to the gator call and spent at least a half hour asking neighbors if they knew who owned the reptile. They were not told that the zoo had agreed to take the caiman, Brelo confirmed today. He called The Plain Dealer to say he and his partner feel bad about what happened to the gator.

“I love animals,” he said. “I’m the one they send when there’s a dog on the highway. We weren’t told about the zoo and I couldn’t take it home with me.”

City spokeswomen and the police spokesman did not respond yesterday to a request for comment on the dispatcher’s actions and Metroparks dispatcher’s report.

Police captured the camain about 6:30 p.m. Monday on Ira Avenue, near Ridge Park Square. At the time, officers said it was a 4-foot-long alligator.

The zoo took in a 7-foot-long alligator law officers found in October 2008 guarding a marijuana-growing operation in a Cleveland warehouse. The 10-year-old male gator stayed at the zoo for two months then went to Alligator Adventure in Myrtle Beach, S.C.