New Year’s Eve was supposed to be a quiet shift for Charlotte County Sheriff’s Office Agriculture Detective Justin Treworgy. He was going to come in, do some paperwork, and head out. Easy.

But a call from the Punta Gorda Airport changed all that, because a 7-foot alligator was heading for the runway to sun itself, a potential problem for an incoming commercial flight due to land any minute. His quiet shift suddenly became a race against time.