Roaming 150-Pound Tortoise Goes on a City Adventure
Clark the tortoise gets fifteen minutes of fame.
— -- A 150-pound tortoise got its 15 minutes of fame in California over the weekend after it was spotted wandering the streets of the city of Alhambra and "taken into custody" by police.
The roaming reptile, named Clark, was reunited with its human family on Sunday after it was spotted near the intersection of Sixth Street and Norwood Place, in the southeastern part of the city, at around 1 p.m. Saturday and retrieved by police.
Someone cornered Clark until officers arrived, Alhambra Police Department Sgt. Esther Rodriguez told ABC News in a Sunday interview.
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"Since he was kind of heavy, two officers picked him up, put him in our trunk and transported him to our station," where he was placed in a kennel until Los Angeles County Animal Care and Control arrived shortly afterward, Rodriguez said.
News of the situation spread after a posting on the department's Facebook page.
"Which is faster? The tortoise did try to make a run for it; but, our officers are pretty fast. Almost had a pursuit!" read the Saturday posting on the Alhambra Police Department's Facebook page, adding that two officers were needed to take it "into custody" because it weighed so much and handcuffs weren't practical.
Readers responded with their own humorous replies, including one woman who wrote that she had seen the tortoise on the road on Saturday.
"I saw about (four) people around him who didn't know what to do and so I pulled over. He was friendly though and was eating grass and leaves and moving at a fast clip. the dude can move!" she wrote.
Several other posters offered to take the creature in if it couldn't be returned to its rightful owner. Luckily, the tortoise was claimed by its owner around noon on Sunday, Rodriguez said.
When it initially updated the story on its Facebook page, Alhambra Police said the animal was named Dirk. It later corrected the posting, saying it received incorrect information, and the tortoise's name is Clark.
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