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Man hiding from Fla. police gets arm bitten off by gator

Police said three-quarters of his arm were removed

By Police1 Staff

LAKELAND, Fla. — A man hiding from Lakeland police lost most of his arm to an alligator bite, ABC Action News reported.

The man, 21-year-old Jessie Kinsinger, had an argument with his mother and fled from their apartment. His mother called police because she believed Kinsinger was in “an episode” and in need of psychological help.

Police, blood hounds, and a helicopter searched for the man using witness reports to track him. He was located lying on the ground by a lake with signs posted that read, “Caution! Alligators frequent this area!”

Kinsinger’s brother-in-law, Mike Taylor, was first to find him on the lakeshore, bleeding profusely after swimming through the water. He applied pressure to the wound.

“According to the doctors and the paramedics, if I wouldn’t have applied that pressure and the tourniquet he would have bled out and died,” he said to the news site.

Police persume an alligator bit off the three-quarters of his missing arm.

Kinsinger was taken to a hospital. Police are searching for an eight to nine-foot gator. If they find it, they will remove it due to a public safety hazard.

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