A Missouri woman tried to do a good deed when she noticed a turtle trying to cross a busy street. Pulling over, she recorded her daughters carrying the turtle across the road to safety. Unfortunately, the feel good story turned into one of regret when they were then stopped by a police officer.
Ellen (@ellenjaz17) shared a TikTok video captioned, “When you save a turtle from being ran over, then 30 seconds later you get a ticket.” In Ellen’s video, you can see one of her daughters leaning over and picking up a turtle that was in the middle of the road in front of an auto center. Keep in mind, the road in this area looks quite desolate. Her two daughters carry the turtle to safety in an area of brush off the side of the road. It happily returns to nature.
While all of this was happening, Ellen said a police officer was watching them. In an update video, she explains what happened when the officer got involved. When Ellen and her family got back in their vehicle, they were pulled over by the officer. She said from the very start, the officer had an attitude with them. She said it was a “very negative encounter” that ended in a ticket.
Though Ellen didn’t say what ticket she received for helping the turtle cross the street, commenters speculated it was likely for “impeding traffic.” After Ellen kindly thanked the officer and was sent on her way, she said she contacted a lawyer. She’s trying to see if she can fight the ticket after she and her daughters did a good deed and saved the turtle’s life. So far, she has no updates on where they’re headed with that.
Commenters immediately started reacting to Ellen’s initial video, surprised by the fact that she’d get a ticket for doing a good deed. One commenter stated, “Gotta hit that quota they claim they don’t have.” Another commenter urged, “Don’t pay the ticket and go see a judge. Explain it was a road hazard and the police watching you do it should have been doing their job and removing it with their lights on in the middle of the road.”
Many other commenters had words of advice to share with Ellen regarding her situation. One commenter suggested, “Go to court and make sure you call every crazed animal support group to be outside the courthouse.” Another added, “The judge will let you off because the cop won’t show up. The judge will chastise him if he does. Tell him it was a protected turtle.” Commenters continue to share their reactions, opinions, and words of advice for Ellen after the viral turtle incident.
