[Video] Alabama police chase ends with a suspect in custody: a runaway kangaroo
You might expect to see some wildlife driving through Alabama. Deer, raccoons, skunks, maybe the occasional fox. But you don’t expect to see a typically Aussie visitor causing havoc on roads in the Cotton State. Imagine the surprise, then, of drivers and police officers as they dealt with a kangaroo after the animal caused a car crash.
Sheila the kangaroo caused a two-car crash and led police on a chase across a busy road
If ever you needed a cautionary tale advising you to steer clear of exotic pets, it might be this one. Shiela, a bewildered kangaroo, escaped her Alabama home and made her way to Interstate 85 between Montgomery and Auburn. As you might imagine, the exotic animal was startling for drivers.
According to the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency (ALEA), a “two-vehicle crash” happened at 11:50 a.m. “involving” Sheila. I know what you’re thinking, and no, Sheila was not harmed during her mischievous escape attempt. The kangaroo did, however, jump all over commuters’ hopes for an easy lunch break.
Authorities closed lanes of the highway while they recovered Sheila. “Eventually, both the southbound and northbound lanes of Interstate 85 near the 46-mile marker were closed while troopers with the Alabama Law Enforcement Agency’s Highway Patrol Division, along with the animal’s owner, conducted a recovery of the kangaroo.”
As for the recovery itself, Sheriff Andre Brunson and other officers stopped traffic to prevent Sheila from running “in front of traffic” and getting hurt. Or worse. The owner, Patrick Starr (I can hear your best impressions already), and law enforcement officials tranquilized Sheila. “I’ve never seen anything like it. We had a bear a few years ago, but never a kangaroo, Brunson said.
That’s not surprising, given that kangaroos are almost exclusively native to Australia. That is, aside from exotic animal owners, zoos, and wildlife parks. “You never know what you’ll see in Macon County,” Brunson said of the wild ride. Maybe Starr should stick to dogs from here on out. Check out a video of the escaped marsupial below!
