{"id":6813,"date":"2026-08-14T21:09:25","date_gmt":"2026-08-14T21:09:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6813"},"modified":"2026-08-14T21:09:25","modified_gmt":"2026-08-14T21:09:25","slug":"runaway-reptile-near-highway-24-creates-traffic-scare-on-major-throughfare","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6813","title":{"rendered":"Runaway reptile near Highway 24 creates traffic scare on major throughfare"},"content":{"rendered":"<div>\n<div>\n<p>ORINDA \u2014 A cold-blooded stroll by a shell-covered wanderer caused motorists on a Sunday drive through this Lamorinda city to swerve, slow, stop and eventually call police.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6811\">She tried to keep her second boyfriend a secret. The truth led to Richmond homicide, police say<\/a><\/p>\n<p>In the end, the jaywalker \u2014 this one a tortoise weighing at least 40 pounds \u2014 ended up back behind an enclosure, and the vehicles he didn\u2019t try hard to avoid evaded damage.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cHis name is Bernie. He was pretty large,\u201d Orinda Police spokesperson Officer Chanel Taliaferro said. \u201cI\u2019m sure he maybe even was a little heavier than what has been estimated. We don\u2019t know how old he is.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>What police do know that Bernie has a distaste for being kept in an enclosure. Taliaferro said \u201cthis is not the first time he has made the great escape.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Bernie\u2019s adventure happened Aug. 9 and ended with him on southbound Camino Pablo, a major roadway near Highway 24 that is at the southern portion of the San Pablo Dam Road corridor. He ended up at the intersection of Camino Sobrante.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt\u2019s a very busy street and place,\u201d Taliaferro said. \u201cIt\u2019s a major throughfare here. He was in one of the two lanes.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6809\">Postcard weather on tap for Bay Area weekend<\/a><\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s also about a half-mile from where Bernie usually lives inside an enclosure with an owner. Tortoises live their lives on land in contrast to water-dominant turtles.<\/p>\n<p>Police did not identify Bernie\u2019s owner or give that person a citation.<\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<p>Bernie\u2019s walk \u2014 likely sparked by a heat wave that would give energy to reptiles \u2014 came to light about 2 p.m. when multiple people called police to report that he was interfering with traffic and making things unsafe. Taliaferro got to the scene within minutes.<\/p>\n<p>Multiple callers rang police about 2 p.m., and officers got to the scene within minutes, Taliaferro said. They soon contacted Animal Control officers for precautionary reasons and also found that Bernie had an air tag and phone number attached to him.<\/p>\n<p>Authorities eventually contacted the owner, who responded by picking up the runaway reptile.<\/p>\n<p>Read more <a href=\"https:\/\/nextcitydigest.com\/?p=6807\">From Los Angeles to San Leandro, duo allegedly set up sex dates then robbed the men who showed up<\/a><\/p>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Sunday drive through this Lamorinda city caused motorists to swerve, slow and stop, because a shell-covered walker took a cold-blooded stroll.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":6812,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6813","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.6 - 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