Police: Suspect used alligator to threaten kidnapped man

BRIDGEPORT, Conn. – Connecticut police say a man who placed a 3-foot alligator on top of a man in an extortion attempt has been arrested.

The Connecticut Post reports that 30-year-old Isaias Garcia, of Garland, Texas, was held on $250,000 bail after pleading not guilty Tuesday to charges including kidnapping and threatening.

Authorities say a 21-year-old man called his aunt April 6 to say he had been kidnapped and his abductor was demanding $800.

The aunt contacted police who told her to demand proof her nephew was OK. Police say she received a photograph of her nephew face down in a bathtub, the open-mouthed alligator on top of him.

Police traced the suspect’s phone to a Shelton hotel where he was arrested. Online judicial court records did not list an attorney for Garcia.

___

Information from: Connecticut Post, http://www.connpost.com