A gator attacked a Florida man after he had just evaded the police. Florida resident Bryan Zuniga had narrowly escaped a sherrif's deputy at a traffic stop when something else got him: an alligator.

Zuniga had fled from the police after a traffic stop. He bolted from his car on foot and hid behind a water treatment plant near Tampa around 2:40 AM. Presumably, given the hour, he was drunk.  The gator attacked Zuniga, tearing into his face and arms. He went to the hospital for treatment of the injuries.

While the deputies looked for Zuniga, they issued an alert to local officers in the area. Hours later, St. Petersburg police said a man who fit the description was being treated for an "animal attack." They thought there might be a connection, so police interviewed him.

Initially, Zuniga lied, telling police that he "was watching fish jump when he fell in and was attacked by an alligator." However, after police put the story together, Zuniga confessed.

"He just said he was attacked by the alligator," Cristen Rensel, sheriff's spokeswoman, told press. "It's still unclear how he got (to the hospital)."

After being treated at the hospital and released, Zuzinga was charged with resisting an officer without violence, breaking or injuring fences, fleeing and eluding, and driving with a suspended or revoked license. He was booked into the Pinellas County Jail awaiting a hearing.