If You’re Gonna Run From Police I’d Suggest Not Hiding In A Florida Swamp. Case In Point: This Dude Got Eaten

I’m not sure if the Darwin Awards even exist anymore, but if they do then I’d like to go ahead and nominate 22-year-old Matthew Riggins who was found lurking behind some homes in Barefoot Bay, Florida and suspected of attempted burglary. Instead of coming clean he fled from the police, like the cops couldn’t even find him after deploying K9 units and a helicopter. The reason the police couldn’t find Matthew Riggins is because he’d hidden out in a nearby swamp, which as you all know in Florida means one thing: big ol’ alligators.

Roughly ten days after evading police capture Matthew Riggins’ body was found floating in Barefoot Bay pond with an extremely hostile 11-foot alligator nearby. That alligator that was later captured and dissected, parts of Matthew Riggins’ body was found inside the stomach of the alligator. This should be lesson to EVERYONE: (1) don’t break the law, (2) don’t run from the police, and (3) NEVER hide out in a Florida swamp.

The Daily Mail reports:

Deputies arrived on the scene at around 2am on November 13 and began to look for the men, using K-9 units and even a helicopter to try and track the pair.
They both managed to evade authorities however, and Riggins even called his girlfriend during the chase to let her know what was happening and to tell her he was laying low.
Unfortunately, he decided to lay low near the edge of Barefoot Bay pond and was reported as missing by his family that same day.
‘He probably went into the lake to hide from the officers and the dog, and came across that gator,’ said Major Tod Goodyear of the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office.
The alligator also met an untimely end on the day Riggins body was discovered as a trapper from the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission was forced to euthanize the reptile after it aggressively began approaching divers sent to recover Riggins corpse.
The trapper had been called to the scene after divers observed the severe trauma Riggins’ body had suffered during the attack.
The medical examiner was able to confirm the alligator was responsible for killing Riggins after discovering his remains inside the alligator’s stomach.

Gators in Florida don’t mess around, as we’ve reported on time and again here on BroBible they are not an animal to be trifled with. That said, I don’t agree with this Barefoot Bay resident’s stance on Riggins’ gruesome death:

Like most alligator prey, Riggins was drowned before the animal began to eat the man.
‘I would say it’s poetic justice, you want to sit there and steal from people,’ said Barefoot Bay resident Chuck Stotes.
The man who is believed to have been with Riggins that night has refused to cooperate with police and not been charged with a crime at this time.

A person died and he’s calling it poetic justice because the guy stole some stuff? Stealing’s fucked up and it should never be condoned, but calling a gruesome mauling of a human being by an alligator ‘poetic justice’ is pretty despicable.

For more on this story you click on over to the Daily Mail by following that link above!