Following a hopping-speed chase, Durango police officers helped capture an errant at-large suspect last month: a red kangaroo.
In body camera footage released Wednesday on social media, officers can be seen in pursuit of the furry suspect near East Second Avenue and College Drive around 11 p.m. Sept. 18.
The marsupial belongs to a Durango resident and had escaped the house when an alarm went off. Officers responded to a report from a third party of a kangaroo on the loose.
“When the call came out, they didn’t believe it,” Cmdr. Nick Stasi said. “They thought for sure someone was seeing something.”
When they arrived and realized that they did, in fact, need to apprehend a kangaroo, they “had a ball.”
“How do I get him?” one officer can be heard saying through giggles as the animal hops down College Drive.
Eventually the kangaroo’s owner showed up to help and the animal approached him.
It is legal to have a red kangaroo as a pet so long as it was imported properly, Colorado Parks and Wildlife spokesman John Livingston said.
rschafir@durangoherald.com