Investigators with the Cook County Sheriff's Office Animal Crimes Unit received a tip that a man was keeping an alligator in confined conditions. Officers went to the residence and found the alligator in a fish tank in the kitchen.
Dewayne Yarbrough, 43, is charged with possession of a dangerous animal. He told police he purchased it five years ago in Indiana for $200 and kept it as a pet because it attracted women.
Full size alligators are normally 8 to 14 feet in length, but police say Yarbrough only fed his alligator once a month to keep it small. The gator was transferred to Animal Welfare League in Chicago Ridge and will be turned over to Chicago Herpilogical Society.
