German police puts 'stalking' squirrel behind bars

Berlin, Jul 16: In a bizarre incident, an aggressive squirrel was 'arrested' by police in Germany after a woman complained that the rodent was following her around.

Police received an unusual emergency call yesterday from a young woman in Bottrop in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), complaining that while walking down the street in the west German city, she found herself being chased by the squirrel.

Unable to shake the animal off, she eventually called the police for help and an officer was quick to come to her aid.

After capturing the rodent, officers brought it back to the station, where it was discovered that the animal was showing symptoms of exhaustion, The Local reported.

The squirrel had been 'arrested' and taken into custody, police said in a press release. Police in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW) published a video on their Facebook page yesterday, showing an officer at the station feeding honey the little squirrel.

The video, on the Polizei NRW Facebook page, has already been viewed around 12,000 times. NRW police say the squirrel will be transferred to a rescue centre once it has recovered its strength.

This is not the first case of a squirrel ending up on the wrong side of law. Earlier this month, police in Michigan, US, had posted the mugshot of the rodent to draw people's attention to a bizarre case of theft of 28,000 pounds of nuts.

However, that was done in a lighter vein by the police while yesterday's case was of policemen acting on an actual complaint.

PTI