Police find alligator near West Sixth Street

Lawrence Police made an unusual “arrest” Wednesday night in the 3000 block of West Sixth Street.

The suspect: an 18-inch alligator.

“I don’t know whether it was an alligator or a crocodile — I’m not an expert in those kinds of things,” Sgt. Craig Shanks said.

Shortly after 7 p.m. police were sent to check out an alligator sighting.

“Somebody saw it lounging on the ground and realized it was the real thing,” Shanks said.

Police, with the help of a passer-by, got the animal in a box. Prairie Park Nature Center officials asked that it be brought to them, Shanks said.

“It did what they do when confronted and snapped a little bit,” Shanks said of the capture.

It is illegal in Lawrence to have an alligator or crocodile as a pet, Shanks said. Police don’t know where the animal came from, but theorized it got away from someone who was keeping it as a pet.

Courts

Dole Institute protester ready for trial’s start

One of the 18 protesters arrested this summer outside a Dole Institute of Politics event is ready for trial, his attorney said Wednesday.

Leo C. Jalipa, 19, Columbia, Mo., is charged with battery on a law-enforcement officer in connection with a scuffle outside a $500-a-plate dinner July 21 at the Lawrence Holidome. His trial is set to begin at 9 a.m. Tuesday in Douglas County District Court.

Jalipa’s attorney, Hudson Luce, said in court Wednesday he thought evidence existed to show there was no probable cause to arrest Jalipa.

“With the evidence I have, I think I can prove my case,” Luce said.

Environment

Tanker truck overturns, spills human waste

State health officials were expected to test for contamination Wednesday at the site of a human-waste spill in Leavenworth County that happened when a tanker truck overturned.

The 16-foot truck, driven by an employee of Deffenbaugh Industries of Shawnee, overturned and came to rest in a ravine about 2 p.m. Tuesday on Fairmount Road near 155th Street, police said. The tank ruptured, spilling “product of human waste” onto the ground.

A recovery team from Deffenbaugh Industries was able to recover most of the waste on Tuesday, a police report stated.

The cause of the accident remains under investigation.

The 52-year-old truck driver, whose name was not released, was transported to St. John Hospital, Leavenworth.

Police said they expected Kansas Department of Health and Environment officials to conduct tests at the site Wednesday, but department employees didn’t return a phone call.