Allie and the Jets: Illinois Woman Charged With Releasing Alligator At O’Hare
jonathanturley
In Illinois Alexis T. Prokopchuk, 29, is facing a rather novel criminal charge after security cameras captured her releasing a baby alligator named Allie at O’Hare International Airport in November. If she thought this was an urban alligator simply being released into the wild, she was wrong. She is now charged with animal cruelty and reckless conduct. Notably, both are misdemeanors, which may surprise some that releasing an alligator into an public area is not a felony.
The 25-inch gator Allie was spotted underneath an escalator in the lower level of Terminal 3. An O’Hare custodian grabbed the gator which was found in terrible condition from a poor diet.
Police then went to the security cameras and, sure enough, spotted a woman on the CTA Blue line holding a gator and entering Terminal 3. She then let it loose. She told officers that she and her boyfriend rescued the gator when a friend was going to flush it down a toilet. However, the police reported that Prokopchuk “was (high) on crack cocaine and heroin and had taken some pills” before losing the gator at the airport.
