Rambling Rodents Cause Road Wreck in Oxford

Do you blame the snake or the mice?

Who knows, really? Two things you cannot blame for the actions of this distracted driver are the usual suspects: the cell phone and the bottle.

No, Derrick Hunter-Murry of Oxford wasn’t texting and driving, nor was he driving under the influence, according to police. The reason he drove off the side of the road on Wednesday afternoon, he says, was because the mice he was bringing home to feed his pet snake got loose in the passenger area of the 2005 Jeep Liberty he was driving.

Hunter-Murry, 20, drove off the right side of Route 67, near his house, after the mice distracted him. The Jeep struck wire rope and a traffic sign about 1,000 feet south of the Route 67 intersection with Hogsback Road, according to a police report. Hunter-Murry also drove over grass in front of the All Star Transportation Bus Co. building at 516 Oxford Road, or Route 67, the report states.

Hunter-Murry, who drove his car home from the scene, was given an infraction for failure to drive right. The mice, however, were not cited and it was unclear, based on the report, whether they survived the ordeal. Police did not talk to the snake.