A suspect named “Gopherus Genus” turned out to be a turtle who an officer “quickly detained” for crossing the road too slowly but let go with a “warning.”

Deputy L. Fontenot was conducting a traffic stop on a “Florida Native” for impeding traffic flow, according to the St. Johns County Sheriff’s Office’s post on Facebook.

“At the time of the stop, the suspect identified as "Gopherus Genus" (exact age unknown), failed to clear the roadway when ordered to do so, opting to continue his current activity of walking along the parkway," the post said.

The deputy then “quickly detained” Gopherus, the sheriff’s office wrote. The Facebook post was labeled as an “IMPEDING TRAFFIC INCIDENT.”

But the turtle was not “detained” for long.

"Gopherus was cooperative during the remainder of my encounter with him, so I chose to use discretion and let him go with a warning. In fact, our interaction was so positive, we posed for a selfie together!" Fontenot said.


The selfie showed a smiling Fontenot with Gopherus.

“After a heartfelt conversation regarding this risky behavior (he) was ‘released on his own recognizance’ in some nearby woods,” the post said.

This story was reported from Los Angeles.