 © April 20, 2009 - All rights reserved |
NORTH PORT, Florida - A North Port man was arrested Sunday and accused of killing a gopher tortoise, a protected species in Florida.
According to the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission, Theodore Cuyler, 42, of the 6700 block of Carovel Avenue, was seen putting a tortoise in his van on April 4. A neighbor called to report the tortoise's removal, but officers from Fish and Wildlife and the North Port Police did not find any evidence of tortoise-killing in Cuyler's yard.
Nine days later, investigators from wildlife agency and North Port officers went through Cuyler's garbage and reportedly found skin, feet and claws from a gopher tortoise.
Fish and Wildlife officers arrested Cuyler at his home. Cuyler faces one count of intentionally killing a threatened species, a third-degree felony. He was released Sunday from the Sarasota County jail on $1,000 bail.