No bull! DPS corrals curious cow on Interstate 17 near Jomax Road in Phoenix

PHOENIX — The Department of Public Safety was called to remove a wandering bull that found its way onto Interstate 17 early on Friday morning.

That’s right, a 1,000-plus pound cow found its way onto the I-17 near Jomax Road in north Phoenix, prompting a response from multiple DPS troopers and a helicopter to keep track of the curious beast.

“It’s not very often you get called to steer a 1,200- to 1,300-pound animal just sitting in the HOV lane trying to take on vehicles,” Kevin Watt, sergeant with the Arizona Department of Public Safety told ABC 15.

“It’s night time out here. It was dark. It’s a brown, black cow, hard to see.”

At freeway speeds – if someone doesn’t see that – if you hit a 1,300- to 1,500-pound animal, the chances of a fatal are possible.”

Watt said the cow challenged him in his cruiser before a second trooper arrived and guided the bull off the highway. During that time, the bull was still mostly focused on sergeant Watt.

“He was definitely not very happy with me being there,” Watt said.

The bull proceeded northbound in the southbound lanes of Frontage Road until it was steered back to it’s corral safely for the rest of the night.

“I’ve got 19 years as a police officer and this is probably only the second time I’ve ever had to deal with this,” Watt said. “I know it happens, but not very often.”

Related

Playing chicken with ADOT: Rooster caught on I-10 #LlamaWatch: Llamas loose in Phoenix go viral onlineDoggone traffic: Two loose pooches snarl Interstate 17 in PhoenixLoose dog shuts down traffic on busy Phoenix freewayPhoenix area will probably be under an extreme heat warning all weekWeekend wrap: Here are the biggest Arizona news stories from July 24-26