An alligator living it up poolside in Brooklyn was carted off by cops because neighbors spotted the razor-toothed reptile and freaked out, police said Thursday.
Three-foot-long, 3-year-old Dino was sunbathing next to a small wading pool in a Bensonhurst back yard around 4:30 p.m. Tuesday when a neighbor saw it and called cops, authorities said.
By the time officers arrived, the alligator was back in his tank in the basement apartment of his owner, Victor Alexandria, 45, officials said.
Members of the NYPD’s Emergency Service Unit hauled him off.
“What’s the big deal about a gator?” Alexandria said to The Post. “It’s a reptile, and it doesn’t do any bodily harm to anybody as long as you treat it the right way. I give it goldfish about twice a week. The alligator has never bitten me.”
Alexandria was set to receive summonses for keeping the illegal wild animal, but police found out there was a warrant for his arrest — for failing to appear for a ticket for riding his bike on the sidewalk — and cuffed him. He was charged with disorderly conduct for creating a hazardous condition and a misdemeanor for domesticating the wild animal.
If convicted, he faces a $500 fine and up to a year in jail.
Meanwhile, Dino is resting in a nearby animal shelter with his mouth wrapped closed.
Alexandria — who has 17 prior arrests, some related to his love of wild creatures — said he will fight the city to get his beloved Dino back.
In 2005, the exotic-animal aficionado was charged with aggravated cruelty to animals when he was nabbed on the Coney Island sidewalk for charging people to take pictures with his red macaw parrot, an albino python and a monitor lizard. Sources said when cops searched his backpack, they found 21 more exotic animals, including snakes and lizards, which he was believed to be selling illegally.
In 2007, he was charged with reckless endangerment when a large snake he was carrying bit a person’s arm.