Runaway ram captured in Mount Laurel, New Jersey
MOUNT LAUREL, N.J. (CBS) - The runaway ram in New Jersey has been caught.
Mount Laurel police captured the ram at Joe Decicco's house on Horseshoe Drive at around 8:45 a.m. Friday.
"You assume it will be captured but not in your backyard," Decicco said.
Decicco was in his pickup truck, ready to pull out of his driveway on Horseshoe Drive when he saw the ram running down the street, past his door and into his backyard.
"My back gate was open thankfully, so he went back and six of them [police officers] followed him," he said.
Mount Laurel police said they've been fielding calls for days ever since the ram escaped.
"We've gotten many reported calls on a loose ram in the Mount Laurel area, specifically Horseshoe," Mount Laurel Police Officer Kyle Gardner said. "We deployed a bunch of officers out here. We were able to finally capture this nuisance ram. So hopefully he's going back home and we won't have to deal with him again."
Mount Laurel police said the ram was first spotted around 4:30 p.m. Thursday. It was in Michael O'Brien's yard Thursday and then again Friday morning.
"I saw something out of the corner of my eye, and I was like 'oh my gosh what is that,'" O'Brien said.
"We've had bears, we've had deer, foxes, all kinds of typical suburban wildlife, but never a ram," said Alan Wheeler, a CBS News Philadelphia photojournalist.
Wheeler had just dropped his daughter off at the bus stop and was walking home Friday morning. When he saw two police officers running after the ram.
"I had shorts, Crocs, and a T-shirt and I ran after him," he said.
Mount Laurel police body camera video shows the ram cornered in Decicco's backyard.
It tried beelining for the bushes, but several officers cornered the ram.
Wheeler was rolling when it was led out of the yard.
Video shows officers pulling the ram by its horns from the backyard of the house. The ram appeared reluctant and maybe a bit rambunctious.
After three days on the run, police said the ram was safely returned to its owner.
The runaway ram in South Jersey came just three days after a horse was spotted galloping down I-95 in Philadelphia.