Cook County Sheriff’s Police seized a four-foot American alligator Thursday from a south suburban man who says he kept the animal as a pet to attract women.
Dewayne Yarbrough, 43, of the 800 block of East 11th Place in Ford Heights was charged with possession of a dangerous animal. Yarbrough said he purchased the alligator five years ago in Indiana for $200.
To keep the alligator's size down, Yarbrough housed the animal in a small fish tank and only fed it a meal of 10 live mice once a month. American alligators traditionally average between eight and fourth feet long.
Police received a tip that Yarbrough was keeping the alligator in confined conditions at his home. The alligator was removed by Cook County Animal Control and taken to the Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge. It will later be turned over to the Chicago Herpetological Society.
Yarbrough is due in court July 5 in Markham.
