Fugitive Tortoise Tom Captured After Three-Week Run

A tortoise named Tom is back with his owner after a three-week disappearance ended with a police chase on a road in Huntingdonshire, England. Police Constable Charlie Brett was driving the B1040 near Ramsey around 8:30 a.m. when she spotted something moving in the opposite lane. “After a few takes, I saw a tortoise trying to cross,” Brett said in a social media post. “In sheer panic that he would get crushed, I blocked the road, ran and grabbed him, and put him in the front footwell riding shotgun. The driver behind me was laughing!”

Policing Huntingdonshire called the capture “a contender for the world’s slowest police foot-chase.” Brett checked with local residents, who told her Tom had been missing for about three weeks. His owner had put up posters in the area. “His grateful owner thanked Charlie and had spent hours and hours walking in the area to find him,” police said.

Tom survived without injury. Traffic on the B1040 was light at that hour. Brett said the driver behind her was amused by the whole scene. No charges were filed. Tom was returned to his owner the same morning.