Florida teen punched baby alligator he kept in shoe box, gave it a cigarette, cops say

Charge Philip Harris for animal cruelty along with all charges for burglary! Show animal abusers it is NOT OK to harm defenseless creatures!

Philip Harris, a 19-year-old from Lehigh, FL was caught breaking into cars. When police viewed his phone looking for evidence of a car being torched they found he had ANIMAL ABUSE VIDEOS as well.

There were multiple clips showing Harris manhandling and abusing a juvenile alligator, according to the Sheriff's Office.

 
The first video showed Harris holding the 2-foot reptile from its neck on March 26, then tossing it on the ground as a gun was pointed at the animal, according to the arrest report. Detectives said Harris was "taunting" the alligator by "continuously hitting the gator on his head" — even as the creature tried to avoid contact and flee. Harris kept abusing the animal in the video by chasing it, hitting it and — once he had captured it again by its neck —punching it in the belly and sending it flying several feet until it landed outside the camera shot, according to the arrest report.

A second video from a day later showed Harris holding the alligator, which had a cigarette in its mouth, according to the arrest report. In the background, Harris cold be heard calling the alligator a "G" and laughing as he said "this is animal abuse," detectives said.

A third video from the same day shows the young gator inside a shoe box, accompanied by Harris' voice explaining that's where the animal was being kept, the arrest report said.

Harris faces charges of killing, injuring or possessing an alligator without authority, according to the arrest report. He was arrested on April 4 and also faces probation violation charges, the arrest report said.

Harris said he found the young alligator near a Lehigh Acres canal and "wanted to relocate" the animal, so he put it in a shoe box, according to the Sheriff's Office. When asked why he gave the animal a cigarette, he laughed, the arrest report said.

Harris is being held at a Lee County jail, according to online jail records.

He's set to be arraigned on May 6, the Naples Daily Press reports. He hasn't been charged in the vehicle break-ins, WBBH reports

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