'Road hog': Police pursuit of big pig along S.C. road goes viral

By Andrew Dys
The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)

YORK COUNTY, S.C. — York County deputies really brought home the bacon late Thursday.

It took a bunch of cops and a horse trailer to do it because the pig was so big. And then the pictures of the "road hog" and comments about whether the "little piggie" made it to market went viral.

Around 8 p.m. Thursday, a deputy spotted the pig along Old York Road near Ernest Road on one of York County's busiest stretches of road, said Trent Faris spokesman for the York County Sheriff's Office.

The deputy stopped to get the pig to the side of the road. Other deputies arrived to block part of the road so the pig would not cause a traffic problem, Faris said.

Because of the effects on traffic, Faris posted pictures of the pig and the road issue on sheriff's office social media Twitter and Facebook.

"We would post something like this if it were a tree in the road, power lines, to give people a heads up about it," Faris said. "But this time it was a pig. And this pig became a viral pig."

The post racked up thousands of comments, likes and shares on social media, Faris said.

There were jokes about the return of "Ham" Newton in reference to Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton. Some bacon comments, certainly.

[RELATED: 12 cops share their most memorable animal encounters while on duty]

The pig was so big that deputies from the sheriff's office mounted patrol unit brought a horse trailer to the scene. The pig was wrangled into the horse trailer and taken to the owner's home, Faris said.

The big pig's name is "Papa Pig," Faris said.

No citations were issued, Faris said.

(c)2021 The Herald (Rock Hill, S.C.)