FWC identifies man who lost hand in Lake County gator attack while fishing

LEESBURG, Fla. - The Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission has identified the fisherman who lost his hand in a gator attack that took place Sunday afternoon in the Pennbrooke Fairways 55+ community as 52-year-old Paul Riggs.

Reports say Riggs, who is from New Jersey, was visiting family in the neighborhood.

As he reeled in a fish, a nine-foot gator jumped up out of the pond, rolled with Riggs and made off with his hand as it retreated to the water.

"That's something an animal or crocodilian uses to remove something or to tear a piece off of something," said alligator expert and environmentalist Frank Robb.

Robb founded the nonprofit Environmental Education Awareness Research Support and Services, or EARSS.

Robb says the roll or "death roll" is a common tactic.

The alligator will shift its weight as a means to remove a piece of its prey.

Video: Alligator chases golf cart in Florida

"They'll do it as a method to try to escape," he said.

Robb goes on to say,  "It's not always in feeding. They will use that method for a lot of different things."

In Riggs’s case, the roll led to the loss of his left hand.

FWC euthanized the nuisance gator.

In a memo obtained by FOX35, Pennbrooke Fairways Homeowners Association wrote to residents, essentially reminding everyone to "coexist" with alligators on the property to keep the peace.
Robb says you can never be too careful.

"We're getting closer to them, they're getting closer to us, there is this real thing called complacency that is going on," he said.

FOX35 is still working to learn of Riggs’s condition.