Man Says Pet Alligator Is Being 'Held Hostage' After Michigan Police Chase

A Michigan man is claiming that his 4-foot-long alligator named Karen is being held hostage by an animal rescue, according to FOX 2.

It all started when police tried to stop 40-year-old Joshua Applebaum for speeding on June 11. Applebaum fled the scene and eventually crashed his vehicle, which is when police caught up to him and learned he had an alligator, Karen, in the car with him. Karen was later handed over to Cicchelli Second Chance Rescue Exotics.

Now, the Oak Park man is claiming Karen is being held hostage by the rescue. Applebaum has been posting videos of Karen on his TikTok account, and 300,000 people are following him on his journey to get her back. But April Cicchelli, the woman who runs the rescue, does not see the situation the same way.

"I have no care in the world that she is TikTok famous," she said. "She is in our large gator exhibit, she is with three other alligators."

Cicchelli also said that Applebaum showed up to her farm unannounced and demanded to get Karen back.

"He started showing aggressive behavior, disrespectful behavior to us and our facility," she said. "We are not willing to mistakenly put one of our alligators in a homeless situation, running from police, living in a car."

The two individuals have both said they're willing to take the issue to court.