Owl Attacks Officer Patrol Car

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Owl vs. patrol car: Owl attacks La. police officer, doesn't give a hoot for cop - A hostile Owl put a patrol car into the ditch in Louisiana on Thursday after the wide-eyed bird flew into the police officer’s driver side window and started pecking him in the noggin. The cop had a bird’s eye view of his nocturnal predator, but this assaulting owl is still at large and is armed with sharp talons and a pointed beak.

Writes CNN on Dec. 25: “Covington Police officer Lance Benjamin was riding alone Thursday with his windows down, patrolling the quiet streets of a Louisiana subdivision, when he felt something hard hit the side of his face. At first Benjamin thought he was struck by a football.”

Not a pigskin, but a hooter.

“And then I felt some scratching on the back of my head and some pecking,” Benjamin said. “I tried to keep control of my car, went into a ditch, avoided some trees. Finally was able to stop the car put it in park get out. And there he was, just chilling out in the car.”

The officer was driving slowly, and neither he nor his unwanted passenger were injured in the altercation. Benjamin said he got out of the car and opened the passenger side window. After about a 45-minute stare down, the owl decided to take off.

Covington Police Chief Tim Lentz uploaded body cam footage of the incident to the department’s Facebook page, writing that at first, he thought someone was playing a joke on him. “Surely nothing as outrageous as an owl flying into a police car could happen… Turns out that Officer Lance Benjamin was patrolling the Savanah’s Subdivision with his window rolled down listening and looking for anything suspicious, when an owl flew into his open window.”

Lentz reported that Officer Benjamin “suffered minor scratches and will probably need a new uniform shirt (and maybe pants). After being checked out by medical personnel he returned to work to finish his shift with an amazing story to tell, and proof it happened.”