Toledo police catch fawn on highway
Reports of a fawn running back and forth across I-475 near the I-75 split prompted Toledo Police to take action before someone got hurt.
"Their options were really limited," explains Toledo Police Spokesperson Lt. Kevan Toney. "If the fawn was out there, it was just a matter of time before it was going to be struck."
If officers had a window of opportunity to catch the young deer, they used it. Body cam video shows a traffic officer running into the grassy median, grabbing the fawn, then picking it up by its legs.
The video goes on to show the officer carrying the deer to the back of a police cruiser, sitting down with it, and holding the animal the entire trip. Eventually, the cruiser pulls into nearby Woodlawn Cemetery, where police release the fawn and the video shows it bounding off into the woods.
Officers went after the deer because a doe, likely the fawn's mother, was hit and killed the day before. People were calling 911 to report a young deer stranded in the median, darting in and out of traffic. Toledo Police say the hope is the young deer will be able to survive on its own without the threat of getting hit by a vehicle.
As for the officers, they never know what the day will bring.
"I'm sure that when they were suiting up in the morning and putting on their gear, they didn't anticipate running out on 475 and wrangling a deer, but that's part of the job sometimes, I guess," added Lt. Toney.
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