Sayreville Police Department in New Jersey shared a photo on Facebook of the fish which had apparently landed on a local transformer, dubbing him ‘Gilligan’.

Paying tribute to the “victim in this senseless death”, the force celebrated Gilligan as a “hard-working family man” and “father to thousands of children”.

It added: “The suspect was last seen flying south. If you see him do not try to apprehend him. Although he isn’t believed to be armed he may still be very dangerous.”

A spokesperson for the local electricity company said animals were regularly to blame for blackouts but “fish are not on the list of frequent offenders”, CNN reports.