A man was killed after hitting an 11-foot alligator while driving in Florida early Thursday, authorities said.
John Hopkins, 59, was headed eastbound on Country Road 672, about two miles west of Country Road 39, in Lithia when he struck the alligator in the roadway at 12:30 a.m., the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office said in a news release.
Lithia about 20 miles southeast of Tampa.
The impact caused his car to veer off the road and flip into a ditch on the north side of the road, according to the sheriff's office.
A motorist passing through the area noticed the car in the ditch and called 911. Detectives responded to the scene and Hopkins was pronounced dead, the agency said in the news release.
The alligator was also dead at the scene, according to officials.
No further information was released and the investigation is ongoing.