GLENDALE, Ariz — Reports of an alligator lurking in the dark waters of a Glendale community had neighbors concerned, but some aren't buying it.
"I was kind of worried," says Mary Barolli. "I have a dog and he goes outside."
Her home is back right up to the water at Arrowhead Lake Community, and she's wondering if the reptile would be able to squeeze through her fence.
Glendale police say they received multiple reports of an alligator being spotted in the lake on Sunday. It prompted officers to investigate. They called on the Phoenix Herpetological Sanctuary to help them look for the wide-grinned creature.
But after a day of investigating, Russ Johnson the president of the sanctuary says he doesn't believe there ever was an alligator.
"I think it's a total crock," Johnson says pun intended. The herpetological sanctuary receives these calls often about an alligator being found in a lake.
"Time and time again," he says. "It ends up being a red ear slider or a soft-shelled turtle, one time it was a beaver."
A Glendale Police spokesperson also told 12News there has been no evidence and no recent spotting.
What led to the investigation into this case is when a woman says someone dumped what appeared to be a 10-gallon tank into the lake, Johnson says. When she asked the person what they were dumping in, “They turned around and said it was an alligator."
Johnson believes that person was being sarcastic. He then says the woman who reported it never actually saw what was inside. Still, rumors of an alligator got out.
If there really was an alligator, which Johnson strongly believes there is not, he says it would be only about 10 inches long.
That size would be able to fit in a 10-gallon tank, and it wouldn't survive long in the water with the other fish.
"This guy doesn't have a prayer," says Johnson.
When asked what could people be seeing in the water instead of an alligator, Johnson says probably a turtle. He added they are known to be in Arrowhead Lakes.
As for future search efforts for the alleged alligator, Johnson says there won't be any. They don't want to waste resources searching for a creature that may have never been in the lake.
Johnson says, "Until someone sends me a picture of an alligator I'm not believing this stuff for anything."
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