5 -Foot Monitor Lizard:Death Alerts

An animal control officer, with an attendance of a police officer captured a monitor lizard Tuesday he walked around a Riverside condo complex.

Officer Jenny Selter, the Riverside County Department of Animal Services, responded to a call at 2:30 pm an alligator loose in the complex in the 2500 block of Grambling Way, said John Welsh, spokesman for Animal Services, in e-mail.

Selter reached totally unexpected - a 5-foot and 45 pounds monitor lizard walking on a sidewalk in the complex, Welsh said.

She used the link on a post made to capture the reptile, which hissed and struck the tail. A Riverside police officer helped him fight the beast in the animal control truck.

The animal services department believes that a pet alligator that slipped out of the house owner, said. A reptile expert care of him while in the shelter, Welsh said.

The instructors are native to Africa, but not illegal to own in California, said.