Police, animal control maneuver deer out of DeKalb basement

DeKALB – Oh, deer – a break-in suspect wasn't what occupants in a DeKalb house thought they'd come face-to-face with Friday.

DeKalb police and county animal control officials received a call late Friday morning about a deer that broke into the basement of a house in the 600 block of Roberts Lane.

DeKalb County Animal Control Warden Dan Berres said the house occupants heard something moving around in the basement. When they opened the door, he said, they saw the deer running free in the basement, and police and animal control officials had to block off parts of the house to give the deer a clear path out.

"After a while of corralling it in basement, we were able to get it up the stairs and out of the garage," Berres said.

Berres said it looked like the deer fell down a big egress window going into the basement. He said the deer was running free in the basement when animal control got to the house.

Berres said the department didn't need to use a tranquilizer for the call. He said the deer looked to be in good shape as it ran away from the house.

"Luckily, everything turned out well," Berres said. "No one got hurt and the deer was fine.”

Berres said similar events with deer breaking into buildings have happened before, including one deer jumping through a door of a building on Northern Illinois University's campus last year and other cases of deer going through sliding patio doors of people's homes. He said the county department usually get cases like these once or twice per year.

Berres said he advises residents to put covers on their basement egress windows to prevent animals from falling into the window. If a deer ever ends up in your house, he said, call your local police – between law enforcement and animal control, they can get the animal out, he said.

“They’re frantic and they’re big animals," Berres said. "This was full-grown buck deer, so it’ll run over you.”