Motorist terrified of frogs hops out of vehicle; deputy saves the day

SEFFNER, Fla. — Removing tiny frogs from a vehicle was not in this deputy’s training manual.

A west-central Florida traffic stop turned comical last week -- at least for the deputy -- when he had to remove the frog while the driver, visibly afraid of it, panicked.

According to a video posted by the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office, a deputy had pulled the motorist over on a side street in the Tampa suburb of Seffner at the intersection of S. Parsons Avenue and Highlands Avenue.

As the deputy started to address the woman, she suddenly screamed, “Oh, my God!” and went into panic mode.

“It’s a frog! Did it jump on me?” she asked the deputy.

It had not.

The tiny frog was spotted in the front passenger seat and eventually jumped to the back seat in an attempt to avoid capture, WFLA reported.

The deputy asked the woman to exit the vehicle, which she did immediately, according to the deputy’s video camera footage.

“The driver, not a fan of frogs, hopped out fast while our deputy stepped in to handle the ‘suspect,’” the sheriff’s office wrote in a social media post.

Ironically, the back of the woman’s T-shirt read “Happy Moments.”

It was not a happy moment for the motorist until the deputy was able to catch the frog and send it on its way -- away from the vehicle.

“I’m so sorry, that scared me,” the relieved woman told the deputy."

“You were really scared,” the deputy said.

“After a few attempts (and a whole lot of laughs), the frog was safely removed and everyone went on their way, including the frog, who is currently on a strict ‘stay off the road’ policy,” the sheriff’s office said in a Facebook post.

It was not clear why the motorist was pulled over, or whether she was cited. The sheriff’s office called the episode “a traffic stop nobody trained for.”

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