A 4-foot snake smuggled onto a Philadelphia bus on Sunday escaped from its owner and led to a forced evacuation.
"She had slithered out of my pocket on the way back and she got stuck in between the chairs. Some people started to freak out because it was a snake on the bus, and they started talking about [the Samuel L. Jackson movie] 'Snakes on [a] Plane,'" Koron Riley, 26, said of Red, his boa constrictor,
WPVI-TV reported.
"I apologized to everybody, I didn't mean for her to get out. Most people accepted my apology," he added.
Riley said that Red normally stays around his neck, hidden by his jacket, when he travels.
"She always stays inside [my pocket], but today she wanted to wander around because she was hungry," he explained.
Riley boarded a Route 52 bus around 3 p.m. on Sunday, headed for Monster Pets on 57th Street. After the 3-year-old Red went wandering, the bus stopped near 52nd Street and Westminster Avenue to evacuate.
A SEPTA police officer was able to eventually coax the snake out from its hiding place after a mechanic dismantled the seat she was coiled under.
The Associated Press reported that police have not announced whether Riley will be charged with a crime.