Alligator breaks into home, whips at furniture as family watches, Louisiana video shows
A 9-foot alligator broke into a Louisiana family’s home, and video of the intrusion shows it started slapping around furniture when confronted.
The break-in happened around 10 p.m. on Wednesday, March 26, at the Waterfront East subdivision in Maurepas, according to the Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office.
Nobody got hurt, unless you count the alligator’s pride.
“(The) family tells us this gator ‘broke in’ through their screened-in porch,” the sheriff’s office said in an email to McClatchy News.
“Livingston Parish has close to 400 nautical miles of waterways,” Livingston Parish Sheriff Jason Ard said. “This isn’t LPSO’s first run-in with a gator and won’t be our last. ... It’s part of the job out here!”
Sheriff’s office video shows the alligator had bellied up to the bar when deputies arrived. It then bit down on a chair cushion and went into a series of “death rolls,” a term for the spinning maneuver alligators use to drown their prey.
One man eventually got on the gator’s back — like a horseback rider — and held it down long enough to be tied.
The alligator was dragged across the yard to a dock, then released into the nearby Diversion Canal, officials said.
The video had been viewed more than 345,000 times on Facebook as of March 28, and racked up 4,000 reactions and comments. Among the commenters were amused Louisianians who likened an alligator in the house to an Uber Eats delivery.
“He’s lucky he didn’t end up by my house (because) he would have been dinner,” Jaime Cook wrote.
“I’d have a freezer full of gator meat,” David Danna posted.
“This is south Louisiana. We call this a good day. (That) don’t shoot back,” Mitchell Harris said.
“Just imagine seeing that going out of the door in the morning if (you are) running late for work,” Sarah McMichael wrote.
Maurepas is about a 70-mile drive northwest from New Orleans.
This story was originally published March 28, 2025 at 8:50 AM with the headline "Alligator breaks into home, whips at furniture as family watches, Louisiana video shows."