Deputy confronts free-roaming boa constrictor during truck search, Florida cops say

A truck search in Florida turned strange when deputies discovered their suspect had a live boa constrictor slithering freely in his pickup, investigators say.

Both the driver and the snake ended up in custody, the Brevard County Sheriff’s Office said in a March 1 news release.

It happened Thursday, Feb. 27, when Cpl. Scott Stewart and Cpl. Bridgette Johnson responded to reports of a man dumping items into a creek on Merritt Island, officials said.

“They observed this guy ... actively dumping waste from a large open-top trailer that he had backed up alongside of the Sykes Creek waterway,” the sheriff’s office said.

“Things took an unexpected turn ... as the deputies went to complete an inventory of his vehicle (and) Cpl. Stewart discovered a juvenile Rainbow Boa Constrictor, just hanging out on the passenger seat.”

Rainbow boa constrictors are native to Central and South America and can reach more than 6 feet in length, experts say.

Details of how the deputy reacted to the discovery were not released, but a county Animal Services Unit was called to handle the capture, officials said.

The snake is a pet owned by the 46-year-old suspect, who was arrested and charged with one felony count of dumping raw human waste in excess of 500 pounds, the sheriff’s office said.

The fate of the boa constrictor was not revealed.

Merritt Island is about a 55-mile drive southeast from Orlando.