ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Russian police had an unexpected encounter while searching a house in St. Petersburg — a crocodile in the basement.

The Fontanka.ru news portal said the incident happened Thursday while detectives were looking for undeclared weapons in the house of a man involved in staging reconstructions of historic military battles with period uniforms and antique weaponry.

When they went down they saw a crocodile resting in a small pool of water dug in concrete basement. The owner of the house explained that he got the crocodile years ago.

City prosecutors said Friday they were checking whether the man was complying with local laws.