Florida man allegedly tosses gator into Wendy’s drive-thru window

An alligator made a surprise appearance inside a Wendy’s in Palm Beach, Fla., recently. And it wasn’t by choice.

A Florida man allegedly tossed the one-and-a-half-metre long gator through the drive-thru window.

Officials say the man pulled up for his order and after a server handed over a drink and turned around, he reached into the back of his truck and threw the gator through the window.

It happened in October but the suspect was only recently arrested.

Joshua James, 23, faces charges of aggravated assault and unlawful possession and transportation of an alligator. But his mother says the incident was a harmless prank.

“He’s a prankster he does stuff like this because he thinks it’s funny,” Linda James told NBC. “He’s not a bad kid, he’s a stupid kid. He did a stupid prank.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "He's a prankster he does stuff like this because he thinks it's funny," <a href="http://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/joshua-james-arrested-allegedly-throwing-gator-through-wendy-s-drive-n514377" target="_blank">Linda James told NBC.</a> "He's not a bad kid, he's a stupid kid. He did a stupid prank."

Officials say James admitted to picking up the gator on the side of a nearby road and bringing it to the fast food restaurant.

The alligator was later released in a nearby canal.