A Snapchat video obtained by our ABC affiliate in Orlando is now at the center of a Florida Fish and Wildlife investigation.
The video taken near US 1 by County Line Ditch Road near Mims appears to show a man tying up a gator to the back of his ATV and then dragging it back and forth across the road.
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"They are dangerous animals and it could have turned out bad," FWC officer Chad Webber said. "the gentlemen being bitten and also bringing harm to the animal."
The video has drawn comparisons to one seen last Dec. of 3 men dragging a shark behind their boat off the Florida coast.
It took about a month for FWC officials to identify the men in the video and charge them.
"Sometimes it is tough to identify these people," Webber said.
FWC says it received a tip right away on the gator incident and already talked to the man in the video.
But while FWC officials say the intent to harm the shark in last summer's video appeared clear to them, they say the intent behind the gator incident is not so clear.
And that intent could determine what if any charges the man faces.
One Volusia County resident was appalled to see the video.
"There's no justification for it at all," he said.
FWC tells me once it finishes its investigation it may send the case over to the state attorney's office for possible charges.
