WEST MIAMI-DADE, Fla. -- Local 10 has learned the identity of the man who was eaten by a 9-foot alligator after allegedly running from police and diving into a pond behind an Indian hotel and casino.

Justo Antonio Padron, of Miami, was allegedly trying to steal a car out of the parking lot behind the resort and convention center around 8 p.m. Thursday.

Miccosukee police, assisted by Sweetwater canine units, responded to a call on the Miccosukee Indian Reservation about vehicles being broken into. Police began to chase the men and arrested Heriberto Rubio, 37, but Padron didn't stop. Police said that's when the 36-year-old man jumped into the water.

Local 10 learned of Padron's identity Tuesday, but the man's distraught sister, Yamilet Hernandez, requested her brother's identity be kept quiet until she could break the news to her ailing mother.

Padron has an extensive criminal record including possession of cocaine and marijuana, grand theft, burglary and attempted robbery with a deadly weapon, according to the Florida Department of Corrections. (See Padron's record.)

"My brother did wrong. They are going to portray him as a very bad person, but deep down inside our family, his friends, know that he was a kind-hearted person," said Hernandez.

Eyewitnesses said they were shouting to Padron to swim back to shore Thursday. When he finally spotted the alligator, eyewitnesses said he screamed but then disappeared under the water.

The alligator and another smaller one were later trapped and brought to All American Gator in Pembroke Park.

Local 10 learned the larger alligator was well known on the reservation and employees had nicknamed it Poncho.

All American Gator Owner Brian Wood said he's been told to keep the alligator in storage until the Miami-Dade medical examiner can inspect the reptile.

If an alligator either digests or kills a person it's a state law through Florida Fish and Wildlife that it be destroyed, so the alligator will be put in an incinerator or be buried, Local 10 reported.

Padron's body was recovered Friday by divers 50 feet below at the bottom of the lake.

"He gave what he had and we loved him for who he was and regardless of how he was to the outside world, he actually had a heart. He cared about all of us and he loved us very deeply," said Hernandez.

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Rubio faces three felony counts including grand theft. There is precedent in Florida for additional charges including murder when someone dies in the commission of a felony and the state attorney's office is reviewing the matter, Local 10 reported.

The Miccosukee tribe has not released any statements about the incident. Dexter Lehtinen, the Miccosukee tribe's legal advisor, told Local 10 it is customary for the tribe not to comment on crimes that happen on their land.

Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission Officer Jorge Pino said there have been 22 human deaths from alligators since 1948 when records were first kept.