By BILLY TOWNSEND
The Tampa Tribune

LAKELAND - Adrian Apgar’s account of his near-fatal mauling by an alligator starts with a smoke and a growl in the early morning darkness of Nov. 29.

Apgar told an investigator that he looked down from the lakeside rock where he often sat and saw “what appeared to be an alligator’s mouth coming towards him,” according to a Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission report released today.

The alligator clamped down on Apgar’s crotch and buttocks as he tried to flee and then dragged him into the shallow nearby water, according to Apgar’s account.

And so began a terrifying few minutes in Lake Parker. It ended only when Polk sheriff’s deputies apparently scared the alligator away when they waded into water after Apgar and pulled the 260-pound man from the lake about 4:15 a.m.

The report released today does not contain many revelations. The facts of the incident remain largely as they were reported in November, and several of the key questions remain unanswered.

The big news is that Apgar has recovered to the point that he could give a statement to FWC investigator Dan Parisoe on Jan. 22 at Lakeland Regional Medical Center.

Efforts to contact Apgar were not successful. It’s unclear if he remains hospitalized.

But as the report makes clear, his injuries were horrific.

His left arm was amputated; his right arm was severely broken, requiring extensive hardware for repair. He had deep open wounds on left and right flank. And the wound on his buttocks was 19 centimeters wide by 34 centimeters long, by 3.5 centimeters deep. The wounds were also “severely contaminated,” according to a doctor’s statement.

For all that medical detail, the report remains unsure exactly how the attack unfolded. Parisoe notes in his conclusion that Apgar’s account conflicts with that of a paramedic who treated him. The paramedic says Apgar told him he was asleep when the alligator struck. Apgar told Parisoe his memory of the whole event is sketchy.

The report says Apgar told a doctor he had been using methamphetamine prior to the attack. He later tested positive for both methamphetamine and marijuana use, according to the report.

But Apgar “adamantly” denied using crack cocaine, which some media outlets reported in the aftermath of the attack, based on information from the sheriff’s office.

Apgar said he often came to the site of the attack, which is part of a small county park. Never before had an alligator approached him, he told Parisoe. On this morning, according to Apgar’s account, he was killing time before work after dropping off some friends at a store so they could buy baby formula.

Apgar said he thinks he was wearing jeans and a T-shirt at the time of the attack.

When deputies rescued Apgar, he was naked. Apgar said the alligator must have torn his clothes off in the attack.

The report also documents the inconclusive alligator bloodbath that followed the attack. Many news organizations took pictures of one 12-foot, 450-pound alligator being pulled from the water of Lake Parker just hours after Apgar was mauled. But trappers caught three others – a 7-footer, an 8-footer and another 12-footer – in the days following.

All four gators were taken to an alligator processing center in Lacoochee to be killed. Their stomach contents were also checked, revealing rocks, fish bones and even a waterfowl. But no human tissue was found, and it remains unclear which of the alligators, if any, actually mauled Apgar.

Apgar’s account of the attack did not help narrow the list of possible culprits.

Wrote Parisoe: “Mr. Apgar stated that while he was in the water with the alligator, he observed several other alligators as well. Mr. Apgar said it looked like the alligator that had hold of him was teaching the other alligators to hunt.”

Reporter Billy Townsend can be reached at (863) 284-1409 or wtownsend@tampatrib.com.

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