LEONARDO, N.J. (UPI) -- Police in New Jersey said a kitten rescue on a stretch of busy highway turned complicated when the feline fled under a police car and climbed into the undercarriage.

The Middletown Township Police Department said Officer Nicholas Fenezia responded Saturday to a stretch of State Highway 36 in Leonardo on a report of a kitten stranded on the concrete median and he arrived to find the feline perched atop the barrier.

Fellow officers arrived and stopped traffic on the road while Fenezia attempted to capture the kitten. However, the cat proved too agile for the officer and fled under Fenezia's car.

"Uncertain of the cat's whereabouts, officers checked beneath the patrol car and realized that the panic-stricken cat had climbed and buried itself somewhere in the recesses of the undercarriage," police said in a Facebook post.

"Rather than risk injuring the cat, the officers turned the police car off and called a tow truck and animal control to the scene. Several lanes of the highway remained closed for the next hour while police and an animal control officer attempted to recover the cat. With the assistance of the tow truck, the rescuers were eventually able to free the cat, which fortunately was completely unharmed during this whole event."

Police said the cat, estimated to be between 9 and 12 months old, was taken to the Humane Society while authorities work to find the animal's owner.

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