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Florida cops seek driver they say purposely ran over beloved tortoise at elementary school
By Amy Lieu
Published August 16, 2018
Surveillance video shows a driver purposely running over a gopher tortoise. Authorities are searching for the driver. (Pinellas County Sheriff's Office)
Authorities in Florida said they are working to identify the driver of a “light blue or silver” sedan who was seen on video purposely running over a beloved tortoise outside an elementary school near Tampa.
Pinellas County Sheriff's deputies are investigating. Gopher tortoises are a threatened species under state law.
The vehicle could be seen entering a bus circle at the San Jose Elementary School in Dunedin, and stopped as the slow-moving tortoise meandered into the street. The car could be seen accelerating and rolling over the reptile, Fox 13 Tampa reported.
"I would not have words [for the driver]," Amanda Knapp, who discovered the badly injured gopher tortoise, told the station. “I am angry. I am very angry with the person.”
The tortoise, named Jose, was barely alive with his shell cracked, the report said. A local sanctuary could not save him.
Jose lived with his mate, Sandy, named after the school. Students there loved him.
https://www.foxnews.com/us/florida-cops-seek-driver-they-say-purposely-ran-over-beloved-tortoise-at-elementary-school