Arlington Heights man helps capture 19-foot Burmese python - a Florida record

Arlington Heights resident Andrew Sokolowski, 22, and his buddies recently wrangled a 19-foot-long Burmese python in Florida - the longest ever captured in that state.

"It's so incredible that an animal like this exists and that I'm standing maybe six inches away from it," said Sokolowski, who was back in Arlington Heights this week and applying to law schools after graduating in the spring from the Ohio State University with a bachelor's degree in finance.

Before his fateful Florida trip, the largest serpent he'd seen in the wild was a garter snake.

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