When a team of Maryland state troopers went to help Louisiana police in the aftermath of Hurricane Gustav, the last assignment they expected was a hunt for 1,500 stolen alligator eggs.
“Once those eggs hatch, they have the potential to be worth about $300,000, because they eat the alligator meat and use the skins,” said Trooper Blair Bittinger who helped investigate the bizarre theft from an alligator hatchery.
The thieves, who were never apprehended, had snatched as many eggs as they could carry and stowed them in a nearby wooded area, likely planning to return later, Bittinger said.
But the police found them before the thieves returned.
Stories such as this one were numerous when the 20 troopers and two communications technicians returned Wednesday from a week-long tour of duty assisting Louisiana’s Livingston Parish Sheriff’s Office.
“This gave us the opportunity to assist an area that suffered devastation,” said state police Superintendent Col. Terrence Sheridan as he waited outside the Waterloo Barracks in Jessup in Howard for a brigade of sport utility vehicles carrying the tired troopers.
“They did a very worthwhile function, and no doubt made a difference in the lives of people in Livingston Parish.”
The troopers drove through the night Sept. 2 at the request of Louisiana officials seeking help through the Maryland Emergency Management Agency in the wake of the hurricane.
After arriving at about 6 a.m. the next day, the troopers were shown to their temporary home — the county jail.
“We had our own wing of the jail, and most of us chose to sleep in the cells because it was quieter,” said Trooper Eric Workman, 37, adding that the cells were brand new and never used.
“Even though it was a jail, it was real nice.”
After a quick nap, the troopers began battling power outages, fallen trees and flooding during 12-hour shifts with a local sheriff’s office.
They provided curfew enforcement, shelter security and routine patrol in the heavily damaged area.
Workman even waded into a swamp in pursuit of a known local offender violating the curfew, which was intended to cut down on looting and criminal activity.
“I had a chance to go up [in a helicopter] and see the destruction: A community being run by generators and people eating military rations for days on end,” said Lt. Ernie Leatherbury who ran the mission along with Capt. Jeff Gahler.
“We accomplished what we were sent to do and it was a really rewarding, humbling experience.”
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