Slippery snake caught after 45-minute police pursuit inside a Tri-Cities car
What started as a routine stop to tell someone about expired license plate tabs turned into a full blown snake hunt in east Kennewick on Saturday morning.
A Benton County sheriff’s deputy was on patrol when he noticed a car’s old tabs, and pulled it over.
When he walked up to the window, he found Heath Engle, 30, with a 4-1/2 foot Burmese Python, named Baby, riding around his neck, according to the sheriff’s office.
It didn’t take long for the deputy to learn Engle had warrants for his arrest and a suspended driver’s license.
While deputies were arresting Engle, they put Baby on the passenger seat of his car. But she slipped out of sight by the time the deputy returned to the car.
It took a few officers and Baby’s original owner about 45 minutes to find her hidden under the center console. They needed to remove it to get her to come out.
Engle was taken to jail and Baby went home, the Benton County Sheriff’s Office said.