A miniature horse made a break for it in Alabama and decided to play a game of “catch me if you can” with the local police force.
The pint-sized pony was first spotted on the hoof in the Alberta area of Tuscaloosa, where it caused quite the commotion.
Despite Tuscaloosa police officers’ best efforts, the four-legged fugitive refused to surrender, showing no interest in the bribes of pizza crusts and peppermints that they offered him. The low-speed foot chase through the neigh-borhood lasted two hours, with the pony proving to be a master of escape, running down residents’ driveways and through their backyards, weaving in and out of woods and even around a trampoline in someone’s yard.
One of the officers involved in the pursuit said they all had a good laugh about it, trading jabs and taunts as they galloped after their elusive prey.
“There were several times we laughed at each other,” TPD Corporal Trey Brown told Fox 10 News. “Made fun of each other, really it was a good time for all of us.”
Finally, the miniature horse was apprehended and taken into custody, and the officers snapped a mugshot that would soften the heart of even the most hardened criminal.
“He eventually allowed himself to be caught, and was happy to get pets and pose for selfies,” police wrote on Facebook.
The police department decided to call the mini-horse Ginuwine after the famous “Pony” singer, and jokingly charged the animal with resisting arrest and disorderly conduct.
“He remained silent, pleading the fifth,” Investigator Emily Hopeman said.
Just over a week later, the department announced on Facebook that they had at last located the owner of the escaped equine and learned that Ginuwine’s real name was Knight. They added that the 4-year-old pony would be staying permanently with the nonprofit organization Therapeutic Riding of Tuscaloosa (TROT) at its farm in Cottondale, where he had been cared for since police corralled him. The little horse was already making friends in his new home and was set to make his first public appearance at a TROT Easter egg hunt on April 1.
“All charges against Ginuwine have been dismissed,” the agency added.
