Alligator beaten with golf club and left in woman’s yard, Florida officials say

A Florida angler committed a felony when he beat an alligator to death with a golf club, according to investigators.

It happened July 12 in the Montverde community near Orlando and was discovered when a woman reported finding “a mutilated alligator carcass” in her yard, the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission reported in an affidavit.

Now, Hunter Crumbo, 28, has been charged with “taking and possession of an alligator without a permit,” FWC officials told McClatchy News in a July 24 email.

The woman who alerted authorities says the alligator was “caught, beat and killed” in a canal across from her home, which is near Lake Apopka, the affidavit says.

“The young man then brought the alligator across the street to her side yard,” the report states.

Multiple neighbors identified Crumbo as the angler involved in the killing, including a passerby who said Crumbo asked to borrow a golf club to kill the alligator.

“(Crumbo) told him he had an alligator on his line and asked for help,” the affidavit says. “(Crumbo) first asked for a picture (to be taken) as he tried to drag the alligator to shore and then asked ... for ‘a golf club or something’ to hit the alligator with. Both requests were denied.”

When questioned July 16, Crumbo “admitted to catching the alligator ... and beating the alligator with a golf club,” the report states.

The charge of illegal killing, possession or capturing of alligators is a third-degree felony, officials said.

Montverde is about a 25-mile drive northwest from downtown Orlando.

This story was originally published July 25, 2025 at 1:18 PM with the headline "Alligator beaten with golf club and left in woman’s yard, Florida officials say."