Emu given ride in police car after putting up a fight and resisting arrest

An emu gave police officers the runaround when it was found wandering around Coningsby, Lincolnshire on Wednesday morning. Officers were alerted to the bird causing a road hazard near the RAF Coningsby base and tracked it down to a nearby garden.



However, the bird ‘resisted arrest’ - and refused to come quietly into the care of PCs Gary Young and Tom Harrison. A police spokesman said the 4ft-tall bird ‘put up a fight’ and kicked out with ‘strong legs’. “They had a hard time with it by all accounts,” they said.

“But PC Harrison has got experience with chickens so that may have helped.” The two managed to corner the creature - and called for a back-up police van to help them transport it to a nearby animal park. But the van was being used for a job elsewhere so the officers decided to give the emu a lift in the back of their patrol car instead.



It was initially thought to be an ostrich - but police now say the bird has been identified as ‘a rare white emu’. Police said they do not know where the creature comes from as there have been no reports of an emu or ostrich having escaped from farms in the area. The bird was taken to Tattershall Farm Park where it has been offered a permanant home.

Update: It wasn't an emu either, but a rhea, and is now back with its owner.