Bull Dies After Wild, 2-Hour Police Chase Through NYC Streets

JAMAICA, QUEENS — An escaped black bull died after a wild, two-hour police chase through the streets of Jamaica on Tuesday morning, according to the NYPD. (For updates on the bull's fate and other local news stories, subscribe to receive email newsletters from your neighborhood Patch site in NYC.)

The bull got loose from a local slaughterhouse around 10:20 a.m.

Video of the ensuing police chase showed the animal charging through the streets of Jamaica with a handful of tranquilizer darts in his side, as cars swerved and pedestrians scampered to avoid his unpredictable path.

By 12:25 p.m., the bull had been "contained in a yard" on 158th Street near 116th Avenue, a police spokeswoman said. (However, "it's an animal, so anything could happen," she said at the time.)

Cops said they transported the bull to the Animal Care Center on Linden Boulevard in East New York, where he was pronounced dead around 12:50 p.m.

The NYPD would not immediately reveal the bull's cause of death, or provide any additional info on what happened to him in police custody. Neither would the Animal Care Centers of NYC. "We can't give any information, unfortunately," an Animal Care Centers rep told Patch.

Footage from the scene of the bull's capture showed the animal laying on its side in the yard, surrounded by cops. ABC7 had a live copter cam on the police pursuit right up until the bitter end:

Here's a rough timeline of the chase, as reported by Patch in real time:

"There was a loose cow reported at Archer Avenue and Sutphin Boulevard" around 10:20 a.m., a police spokesman said.

By 11:30 p.m., the bull had been cornered by police in the backyard of 117-53 Marsden St.

However, the bull escaped the NYPD's makeshift coral around noon, and again took to trotting — now with a bunch of police darts in his side — through the streets of Queens. Officers tried to cut him off with their vehicles, but he repeatedly dodged their attempts.

The runaway bull was finally taken down for good in the backyard of 115-43 158th St. around 12:25 p.m.

A police spokesman declined to say what would happen to the bull after its capture.

This was the first bull to escape captivity in Queens so far in 2017. Last year, two bulls — nicknamed Freddie and Frank — escaped from local slaughterhouses within a few months of each other. Both survived capture, and were eventually saved from the slaughter by animal activists. (The former also got some help from Jon Stewart.)

According to CBS2, the bull who escaped Tuesday morning came from the same Jamaica Avenue slaughterhouse as Freddie. A butcher at the slaughterhouse told reporters he thought the bull may have been spooked by a loud noise and escaped through some fencing.

This is a developing story. Refresh the page for updates.

Lead photo via Vladimir Vilsaint/Twitter