MIAMI BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Police had to retrieve a giant snake slithering along Lincoln Road.
The python was spotted slithering along the street just before 3 p.m., Wednesday.
“Every time you think you’ve seen it all, something new and interesting happens that makes you just go, ‘Wow,'” said Miami Beach Officer Traci Sierra.
Sierra, an 18-year veteran of the Miami Beach Police force, is the one who wrangled the python. “I didn’t want it to get hurt. I didn’t know what the end result was going to be, so I figured I would offer my services,” Sierra said.
Suspect apprehended! Officers responded to a call of a 6ft snake just off Lincoln Road and safely captured it. #GoodWork pic.twitter.com/N5M2mq47T6
— Daniel J. Oates (@DanielJohnOates) August 30, 2017
Fellow officers were happy to let Sierra take the lead on this one. “They contained everything, which is half of the battle,” she said.
However, the rest of the battle with a snake that has a painful bite was left to her, and it wasn’t easy.
“I went to put my hand in there and it looked at me like, ‘I’m not going gently with you,'” Sierra said. “When I touched the tail, he made a run for it. Wasn’t cooperating at all.”
Eventually, Sierra caught the snake by the neck and was able to take it to safety.
The city’s police department shared pictures of the six-foot long snake on Twitter, along with Sierra’s brave rescue.
“I got flagged down and they were like, ‘You’re the snake lady,’ and I was like, ‘Yes, that’s me,'” she said in laughter.
Officer Sierra thinks the python was probably someone’s pet that escaped or was simply let loose. After getting a checkup, the snake is headed for a snake sanctuary where it will live out the rest of its years.
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