Police Capture Runaway Seal in Convenience Store Parking Lot, Nothing Convenient About It

We hear at Mandatory love a good police chase. We relish the adrenaline-pumping stories of cops racing wildly in their squad cars to apprehend the bad guys. If there’s a video that shows the pursuit, all the better. But this strange story out of Southampton is, well, a little fishy. That’s because it involves a seal.

It all started on Sunday morning when someone called 911 about a marine animal flopping around in the parking lot of Thrifty Beverage Center in Suffolk County. That creature turned out to be a seal who had wandered very far away from Sea World.

OK, maybe it hadn’t strayed from that California aquatic center, but it was definitely lost. When local authorities approached the juvenile harbor seal, however, it fled…as fast as such animals can. It crossed Lake Avenue and seemed to be headed to a hotel. It waddled its way from the sidewalk to a multi-lane roadway and through a nearby traffic circle. Luckily, it didn’t get hit by a car. We don’t know how quickly a seal out of water can move, but apparently, it couldn’t outrun the cops – who had a blast taking pics with it.

“The animal was detained by patrol officers and taken into custody by the Riverhead Foundation,” the Southampton Town Police Department said in a statement. “Seal is being evaluated and cared for by the Riverhead foundation and will be released at a future date.”

We can only imagine what the seal was trying to do – purchase a beverage? Bum a cigarette? Phone home? Find a lady friend? Sadly, whatever plans the seal had were thwarted by the cops. We hope the slippery little creature finds its way back to its home in the water – and doesn’t have any more run-ins with the police.

Photos: Southampton Police Department