The image of a six-foot bird in handcuffs is enough to make anyone chuckle.
A clip of St. Johns County Cpl. Thomas Keisler’s pursuit of Tina the Elkton emu went viral almost instantly—but her owner, Stephanie Sarnowski, told The Citizen that the madcap footage was only a taste of the day’s chaos.
Originally from St. Augustine, she now runs a mini hobby farm, complete with pigs, goats, a peacock, and Tina, who has become something of a local celebrity.
“Chickens were the gateway drug,” she said with a laugh, remembering the farm’s beginnings.
In 2020, she spotted an ad for an emu on Craigslist. It was a tiny, barely foot-tall baby she would later name Tina.
“She was so tiny and so beautiful,” Sarnowski said. “I figured YOLO, why not? Listen, with a hobby farm, it can be a slippery slope.”
Over the years, Tina has grown to roughly six feet tall and formed a wide clique of friends: a pig named Charlotte, two goats, three Nigerian dwarf goats, mini donkeys, alpacas, and a peacock.
“They all just kind of hang out,” she said. “Neighbors love coming over, especially kids.”
Outside the farm, Sarnowski keeps busy working with her family’s heavy equipment business. She’s also a motorcycle enthusiast, participating in what are known as slow-speed motorcycle rodeos—a hobby that blends precision, skill, and a daredevil spirit.
That same combination of patience and pluck can come in handy when her animals occasionally wander off the reservation.
Friday, Jan. 9, began like any other day—but it would soon depart dramatically from the farm’s joyful routine.
Sarnowski was at work when a neighbor called to report that Tina had escaped into the street. Returning home, she discovered that a whole menagerie had wandered out: pigs, goats, and Tina. She managed to herd everyone else back in, but Tina remained on the lam.
She drove around searching, called animal control, and returned to work, asking them to call if anyone spotted Tina.
Ten minutes later, the phone rang: Cpl. Keisler had located Tina and, in what would soon make headlines on CNN, Fox News, and social media worldwide, corralled the six-foot bird with handcuffs. Sarnowski hurried to the scene to find her pet safe and sound—but still cuffed.
“I was so happy she was okay,” she said. “The deputy was still there, and we just laughed at the situation.”
But getting the bird behemoth into her car, Sarnowski quickly realized, would be akin to stuffing Andre the Giant into a Honda Civic.
With no other options and roughly a mile from home, she tried a different tactic: simply walking Tina home. She rested her hand on the bird’s back, and the emu followed obediently, strolling alongside her down the street.
“I thought we would just make it all the way back,” Sarnowski said.
But the day had one more twist. A nearby landscaping company activated a woodchipper, sending Tina into a frenzy. After several failed attempts to corral her, Sarnowksi was nearly in tears—until a total stranger in a truck pulled up.
He offered to hold Tina while Stephanie retrieved a trailer from her home. “Every time the landscapers made noise she would try to run,” she said. “So this nice random guy just held onto this emu as best he could.”
Finally, with the trailer in place, Tina was loaded and safely returned home.
Sarnowksi thought the uproarious episode had finally come to a conclusion—until friends started notifying her that the sheriff’s office had released bodycam footage. Within hours, the clip had gone viral.
“It’s just unbelievable,” she said. “It’s hilarious. People have been messaging me nonstop. I really don’t know what to say. Other than this is just some real Florida s—t right here.”
