Large tortoise found strolling down Valley streets

[thundley4]

AVONDALE, AZ - A very large tortoise is in police custody, after being caught strolling the streets of Avondale.

The tortoise, weighing between 60 and 70 pounds, was spotted by a passerby walking down the middle of 106th Avenue near Indian School Road.

“Well, it’s kind of surprising to us because you don’t see those kinds of things here, especially in the desert,” said Detective Rueben Gonzales with the Avondale Police Department.

After a very short and slow speed pursuit, the Avondale Police Department’s Animal Control Officer was able to apprehend the escapee.

“It’s interesting. It’s one of those calls that don't come very often especially in police work, where we get a call of a giant tortoise cruising down the streets of Avondale,” said Gonzales. “This has got to be, in my 22 years in law enforcement, the first time I’ve seen a tortoise in a police station."

The tortoise will remain at the station before it is turned over to the Phoenix Herpetology Society.

“If it turns out that nobody comes forth and claims him, who knows maybe we'd like to take him as a mascot. Maybe he could be the first drug sniffing tortoise or something,” said Gonzales.

Police believe the tortoise may have been someone’s pet.

“No one has called in a missing tortoise or a runaway tortoise or a slow moving tortoise,” Gonzales added.

Anyone with information is asked to contact the Avondale Police Department.

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[Ptarmigan]

Tortoise on the run from the homicidal hare.

[Eupher]

That's no way to play the shell game.

[JohnnyReb]

Don't be fooled. The tortoise is a hard shelled criminal.