Police stop van they thought was stolen in Georgia — and find flock of sheep inside

One Georgia police department is taking a good ribbing on social media after officers pulled over a “stolen” van and realized the passengers were sheep.

It happened Dec. 18 in Marietta, just northwest of Atlanta, and the stop was coincidentally initiated by something called a Flock Safety traffic camera.

“Saturday night, a Flock Safety license plate reader camera notified our officers that a vehicle with a stolen license plate had entered the area,” the department wrote on Facebook.

Authorities found the van in a parking lot and began to investigate the vehicle and its cargo. “When officers opened the back of the van, they found a flock of sheep?!”

Video recorded by the officers showed the sheep were largely oblivious to the search, and most didn’t even turn around when cops opened the door.

Taking the discovery with a sense of humor, the department offered a list of possibilities:

• “Could they be in search of a manger?

• It was overcast Saturday night and they could not navigate by the North Star…

• Why were they in the baaaaack of the vehicle without a shepherd?”

Further investigation revealed the driver of the van was actually making a legitimate delivery and the sheep were not renegades.

“All jokes aside, it turned out the sheep were purchased legally and were being transported to a farm,” officials said. “Can you imagine the surprised looks on the officers faces when they opened the back doors to the van?!”

Commenters on social media included Flock Safety, which manufactured the license platecamera.

“Ewe won’t believe this one ... Following an alert from a Flock camera, Marietta police were shocked to find a FLOCK of sheep hanging out in the back of the vehicle!” the company posted on Facebook.

“Luckily, the animals weren’t baa-thered by their new #police pals.”

Other commenters asked is the suspects consented to being searched, and what names the sheep might use on an arrest report.

“Last name Sheep, first name Bah Bah, middle initial B,” one person wrote.

This story was originally published December 21, 2021 at 10:50 AM with the headline "Police stop van they thought was stolen in Georgia — and find flock of sheep inside."