Blackman-Leoni Officers break glass door to free buck from room of 103-year-old woman
By: -----
A 103-year-old woman had an unexpected close encounter with wildlife Monday night in Michigan.
On Nov. 4, officers from the Blackman-Leoni Department of Public Safety responded to Arbor North Living, an assisted living facility, around 7:25 p.m.
Staff at the facility reported a deer, specifically a buck, had entered one of the resident’s rooms.
Staff members were not able to enter the room and could not say if the elderly resident was injured because she was out of view.
However, the staff did report blood that was visible throughout the room, suggesting the buck had been thrashing around in an attempt to escape.
Two officers arrived at the assisted living facility and tried to enter the room through the hallway door. From there, they saw the deer in the apartment’s living room near a set of glass patio doors.
The officers then moved outside to the glass doors, where they could see the deer, but found the doors were locked, preventing them from helping the resident.
The officers made the decision to break the glass patio door with their flashlights and batons to reach the resident.
Once the glass was broken, the officers jumped through into the home for safety, allowing the deer to leave the apartment and flee into the wilderness.
After the buck was gone, officers found the 103-year-old resident in the apartment, who had been injured.
The officers said the resident was conscious and alert and received medical attention before she was taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.
Investigators later determined the buck got inside the apartment by jumping through a closed glass window in the resident’s bedroom while she was in bed.
In its efforts to escape, the deer had caused additional damage and left blood throughout the apartment, most likely from injuries it had sustained upon entering.
Video from one of the officers' body cameras captured the deer inside the apartment as the officer attempted to unlock the sliding glass door.
In the video, the deer can be seen running from the apartment, across the deck and into the darkness.
After making sure the resident was taken care of, the officers tried to find the deer but were unable to find it after it fled into the nearby woods.