'Dead' deer jumps out of trunk

KALAMAZOO, Mich. (WOOD) - It was a scene similar to one in "Tommy Boy."

Kalamazoo Department of Public Safety Officer David Miller was on routine patrol, around 2:20 a.m. Tuesday, and checking parking lots. He encountered a suspicious person sitting in a parked vehicle behind a hotel in the 3700 block of E. Cork Street.

Officer Miller contacted the male, a Kalamazoo area resident, and the two had a brief discussion.

Miller's attention was drawn to the trunk area of the vehicle. The man hit the trunk release and said, "I hit a deer, I figured you would want to see it."

The vehicle owner claimed to have a dead whitetail deer in the trunk. He said he accidently hit the animal with his car on an outlying area roadway, according to a news release. The man told Miller he intended on utilizing the meat from the road kill to feed his family.

"The officer merely wanted to check on the tagging of the deer to make sure it was appropriately tagged with a kill permit or accident permit," explained KDPS Lt. Stacey Geik.

The man agreed.

Miller cautiously opened the trunk and the deer sprang from the trunk.

-- Watch the dashcam video, posted above, from an officer's vehicle --

"Oh, he's still alive," Miller exclaimed as the deer emerged.

The deer jumped to the ground, fell down, got up and then ran to a nearby wooded area.

"He held his ground nicely," Lt. Giek said of Officer Miller. "So I'm proud of him."

The car owner was at a loss for words, police said, after realizing the deer was not as wounded as he initially had thought.

Police said there were no obvious sign the deer was actually hurt.

Geik said it's likely the deer hit the car instead of the other way around, and was simply stunned rather than actually injured from the impact.

"You just never know what you're going to encounter," said Lt. Geik. "You never know. There could be worse things in trunks."