Deputies Wrangle Interstate Emu During Rush Hour

Sign up for the Douglasville Patch newsletter!

-------

Metro Atlanta authorities had some fun on social media Tuesday with the “apprehension” of an emu along I-20 during the morning commute in Douglas County.

The bird, first identified as an ostrich, was chased down in the median near Ga. 5, said Douglas County Sheriff’s Office Lt. Glenn Daniel, who first reported the incident on Twitter around 7 a.m. with a tongue-in-cheek comment that a mug shot was available of the “suspect.”

Deputies and Animal Control corralled the bird in the median as morning commuters drove by. Daniel said traffic slowed for only a short period of time as onlookers couldn’t help but check out what was going on.

“I guess you could say we surrounded the suspect,” Daniel said via phone. “Once we determined it was an emu, we decided to have some fun with it.”

The Douglas Sheriff’s Office quipped on Facebook that the emu was charged with “obstruction (of a major roadway), eluding, and providing false ID.”

Daniel thinks the bird got loose from a private farm nearby. It is now in custody at Douglas County Animal Control.

Daniel, the agency’s public information officer, said he’s never seen anything like this in his 20 years with the sheriff’s office. Deputies have tracked down other lost farm animals in the past, but never an ostrich — oops, emu.

“We always have to report doom and gloom,” Daniel said. “It’s great to get a good [story] for a change.”

Photo: Captured emu. Credit Lt. Glenn Daniel, Douglas County Sheriff’s Office (@gdaniel159)