(KRON) – A reptile owner trying to escape the police left their 10-foot python in a vehicle, according to California’s Vallejo Police Department.
The Vallejo Police Department estimated there were around 500 vehicles participating in a sideshow in the area Friday night and blocking an intersection. Residents often complain to police about sideshows which can happen late at night and are often quite loud as drivers perform doughnuts – skidding the car in tight circles – and fill the air with noxious smoke from the burning rubber.
VPD officials told NewsNation affiliate KRON that officers responded to the sideshow at 11:12 p.m. The law enforcement response included officers from multiple agencies, according to VPD.
The California Highway Patrol Air Operations Unit noticed that multiple people inside a 2007 Cadillac CT6 were pointing lasers inside their flight deck as they were performing doughnuts in the street. The occupants were also beaming the laser in Vallejo officers’ eyes, according to VPD.
Vallejo police officers tried to stop the Cadillac, but the driver did not comply, leading police on a pursuit that ended in Hercules, roughly 10 miles south of Vallejo, where all four suspects fled on foot.
Police said they located a 10-foot python inside the sedan.
According to VPD, the driver was arrested on several charges, including felony evading. The three passengers received misdemeanor citations and were released from the scene, police said.
The Cadillac was towed. Vallejo PD said the python was “returned to its criminally charged owner.”