Immediately after catching the alligator, Deputy Anthony Lauer says he tried to call the local zoos and the department of natural resources in West Virginia to take it off their hands and Eventually, he had to take the alligator home.

“I called home and woke everybody up and had the kids come outside and see it because that’s definitely something you don’t see every day in West Virginia that’s for sure. Woke them up and they actually helped keep an eye on it this morning and they were entertained," said Lauer.

The sheriff’s office had a ton of visitors Friday once the town heard the news.

“We just wanted to come in and see the alligator that’s all the hype today. I was hoping that the kids could go in and see one up close because we’ve had one here obviously in West Virginia so they just let us in and let us take pictures. The kids loved it," said Danielle Dutton, Saint Marys resident.

A group from Charleston will be picking the alligator up and taking it to South Carolina.

It was an unusual night for some law-enforcement officers in Pleasants County.

Instead of wrestling with criminals, officers with the Pleasants County Sheriff's Office and the St. Marys Police Department found themselves face to face with an alligator on Middle Island Creek Road.

In a Facebook post, the sheriff's office said officers were able to secure the three-and-half-foot long "rogue gator in a way that would have made Steve Irwin (the crocodile hunter) proud."

Authorities haven't said where the gator might have come from or where it was taken.

We'll have updates online and during WTAP once more information is available.