MONTICELLO -Traffic was stopped on Highway 27 earlier this weekwhen an alligator decided to take a nap in the middle of theroad.

Monticello Police Officer Scott Stormo said he responded to thecall around 9 p.m. there was a 7-foot alligator blocking Highway 27near the Highway 84 intersection.

Stormo said he and other officers notified the game warden ofthe problem and volunteer firefighters blocked traffic as theytried to get the reptile off the road.

“When I went to yank the alligator’s tail (to pull him off theroad) he came around. We had a parting of the ways at that point,”Stormo said with a grin.

Before the game warden arrived, a volunteer firefighter managedto get a rope around the animal’s neck and they pulled him off theroad, he said.

When the warden arrived he took control of the alligator andreleased it back into the river, Stormo said.