Lyndora man cited for pet alligator’s escape into Kiski River
A Lyndora man has been cited by the Pennsylvania Fish & Boat Commission in connection with his pet alligator’s escape into the Kiski River.
Austin Randall, 23, was cited Sept. 27 with summary rules and regulations transport and sale of fish, following the late August escape of his 2-foot pet alligator, Neo, while the reptile was being transported to a friend’s home in Armstrong County.
The commission accuses Randall of introducing a nonnative species to the environment by failing to use “appropriate safeguards” to prevent the alligator’s escape.
In a September interview, Randall told the Butler Eagle he was taking Neo to Dominic Hayward, a friend of his in Kiskiminetas Township.
Hayward faces the same charge, also filed Sept. 27, for the alligator’s escape.
Randall said the intention was for Hayward to care for Neo while Randall moved.
Instead, the alligator escaped, prompting people to search for him along the Kiski River.
Based on sightings, Neo was considered one of “two or more” alligators in the Kiski River, chief of Kiskiminetas Township police Lee Bartolicius said at that time.
The escape followed an earlier August incident in which an alligator, later named Chomper, was captured and transferred to a reptile rescue facility in Pittsburgh.
Randall said in the September interview that this is the first time one of his reptiles has escaped.
Randall did not immediately reply to a request for comment on Tuesday, Oct. 24.
