Deputies in Florida were conducting a traffic enforcement stop on Tamiami Trail at 3:30 a.m. on Monday when they saw a blue pickup truck that ran a stop sign.

After the driver, Michael Clemons, gave deputies his proper paperwork, he told them that he and his passenger Ariel Machan-Le Quire were collecting frogs and snakes from over the overpass.

The deputy then asked for permission to search the truck to make sure "they did not collect any wildlife they were not supposed to have," the deputy wrote in his report.

The driver consented and as the deputy was searching the truck he asked Machan-Le Quire for permission to search her backpack, which was sitting on the floorboard of the truck.

“Ariel opened the backpack that was on the passenger’s floorboard that revealed 41 small turtles."


Florida Fish and Wildlife Commission was called to investigate. It's not yet known if either were charged.

Read more at the Miami Herald.

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