Watch: Alligator found hiding under parked car in Detroit suburb

Oct. 4 (UPI) -- Police were called to a home in a Detroit suburb to remove a 4-foot alligator found lurking underneath a resident's car.

Marysoul Mousa-Aqrawi said she was preparing to leave for work when neighbors alerted her to the events unfolding in her Sterling Heights driveway.

"And everybody's like 'there's an alligator under your car!' And I'm like 'are you serious?' And then I look and here we go -- he's laying down under my car," Mousa-Aqrawi told WXYZ-TV.

The Sterling Heights Police Department arrived on the scene and summoned assistance from The Reptarium, a zoo in Utica.

Zookeepers captured the gator and transported it to their facility for care.

Police said they believe the alligator was an illegal pet that either escaped or was set loose by its owner.

"The Sterling Heights Police Department would like to remind the public that as it may seem to be cool to own an exotic animal such as an alligator, its still very dangerous," the department said in a statement provided to The Detroit News . "Furthermore, against city ordinance to possess one."

Keeping dangerous exotic animals is a misdemeanor offense in Sterling Heights and carries a potential fine of up to $500.