5-foot alligator hit by car, killed near Clover, wildlife officials say

A 5-foot alligator that was on a western York County road late Sunday night was hit by a car and later died, wildlife officials said.

The alligator was northwest of Clover, near Beaver Dam Creek, said Lt. Shean Coates of the S.C. Department of Natural Resources.

First Sgt. Jason Plemmons of DNR said that the person who hit the alligator on Barrett Road, near the intersection of Sherwood Road, did the right thing and called police to report it.

S.C. Highway Patrol troopers also responded to the scene.

Wildlife officers took the injured animal to DNR’s York County office shelter, but by Monday morning it had died, Coates said.

Alligators are rare in the Upstate, and are illegal to possess, Coates said.

Although police do not know where the alligator came from, it probably was being kept by someone, and may have been released after it became too large, Coates said.

In 2014, kayakers spotted a small alligator near Copperhead Island on Lake Wylie, and in 2002 DNR officers captured an 8-foot alligator in a Lake Wylie cove.

This story was originally published May 30, 2017 at 10:27 AM with the headline "5-foot alligator hit by car, killed near Clover, wildlife officials say."