Merrill Bennington, a resident of Coggins Corner Drive, had her afternoon commute interrupted Thursday when she spotted a large tortoise wandering just off the road in her Newnan neighborhood.

Bennington and her husband were exiting the neighborhood when they spotted the runaway reptile. A neighbor passed the couple, who were stopped in their car, and explained they had seen the tortoise in the neighborhood an hour earlier but did not know who it belonged to.

Bennington said she contacted both county animal control and the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, which were unable to initially assist, before calling 911.

Deputies from the Coweta County Sheriff’s Office arrived at the scene and followed the tortoise up a nearby driveway and into a resident’s yard before safely picking it

See Full Page