CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) -- Chief Chris Mannino was doing a routine ride along with another officer Wednesday night when his partner spotted something on the side of the road.
"I've never seen one that large in the South Suburbs," said Chief Mannino.
It was what is thought to be a three-foot Eastern Box Snake that quickly hopped a ride in their squad car.
"All of the sudden it went under our squad car and then immediately crawled up into the engine area," Mannino recalled.
After a few minutes of back and forth about who was going to uncoil the snake, Mannino said he drew the short straw.
"There was definitely some discussion about who was going to deal with it. We just tried prodding it to where it was more accessible and once it was, I worked up the nerve and went for it," he laughed.
"He squirmed. He was wrapped around a lot of different parts of the engine, but we were gentle. It's just a wild snake, but unusually large for our area."
Mannino said he's dealt with a lot of wild animals over the years, but never a snake in a squad car.
"I've been policing for 23 years so I've had a wide variety of wild animal situations, this is definitely new with a snake being embedded in our vehicle," he said.
Any lessons to be learned from their slimy encounter?
"Next time we see a snake and we get out of our car, we'll park farther away," he laughed.