South Carolina Highway Patrol Sergeant Jonathan Oxandaboure and Mary Alice Simmons with king snake the trooper pulled from Simmons' car.South Carolina Highway Patrol
A South Carolina state trooper recently came to the aid of a woman who pulled to the side of the road because a four-foot-long snake had invaded her car.
Mary Alice Simmons was driving on I-20 in Kershaw County when she glanced down to find the snake creeping along the floorboard of the passenger seat, the South Carolina Department of Public Safety reports on Facebook.
“I definitely freaked out. I’m surprised I didn’t wreck,” Simmons said.
She called 911 and the Highway Patrol was dispatched.
Sergeant Jonathan Oxandaboure and Senior Trooper Bruce Horton responded
“She was having a rough day, that’s for sure,” Oxandaboure said. “I felt bad for the lady because she wanted to burn the car.”
Opening the car door, he grabbed the king snake with one hand behind the head and the other on the tail.
“This trooper had to be a good ole country boy,” Simmons said, referring to Oxandaboure. “He reached in there, grabbed that snake, and pulled him right out like it was a cute little kitten.”
Oxandaboure says he has corralled his share of the slithering violators while on the job, roughly a half dozen or so, he said. After showing off his catch to the other troopers, he later released the snake in a swamp near his office.
