Florida woman pulls foot-long alligator out of yoga pants during traffic stop

PUNTA GORDA, Fla. - It’s not every day an alligator is pulled out of someone’s pants during a traffic stop. But that’s exactly what one Florida woman did, according to local authorities.

Two Charlotte County sheriff’s deputies watched a woman pull a foot-long alligator out of her yoga pants Monday morning. She also had dozens of turtles hidden in a backpack.

According to the sheriff’s office report, the deputies were handling traffic enforcement in Punta Gorda, Florida, when they observed a blue 2013 Chevrolet pickup truck blow through a stop sign around 3:15 a.m.

The deputies pulled the vehicle over and approached a man driving the truck with a female passenger. The man, identified as 22-year-old Michael Cody Clemons, did not have his driver’s license on him but provided his vehicle registration and proof of insurance.

One of the deputies then asked the passenger for her license. She was identified as 25-year-old Ariel Michelle Marchan-Le Quire.

When deputies asked the man and woman where they were coming from, Clemons said they were under an overpass trying to collect frogs and snakes, according to the sheriff’s office report.

A deputy then asked the pair if they would open up their backpacks to make sure they hadn’t collected any protected wildlife. Clemons' bag contained clothes and other personal items, but when Marchan-Le Quire opened her bag, authorities discovered 41 three-stripe turtles in her possession.

When the pair were taken out of the vehicle, deputies asked Marchan-Le Quire if she had anything else on her and that’s when she pulled the alligator out of her yoga pants. She placed it in the bed of the truck.

Authorities contacted the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, who took over the investigation.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.