After cows in Boone, N.C., helped police find a suspect this week, local authorities are musing about the possibilities of bovine crime fighting, said the Boone Police Department in a comedic Facebook post.
According to the department, officers “received some unexpected, but welcomed assistance from some local cows,” Tuesday as they searched for 34-year-old Joshua Russell Minton. He allegedly fled from police during a traffic stop.
As law enforcement – including deputies of the Watauga County Sheriff’s Office – chased Minton, he abandoned his vehicle in the area of US Hwy 421 and US Hwy 221 in Deep Gap before fleeing into an “undeveloped area.”
Police said that Minton’s reckless driving prevented them from seeing where he ran. That’s when the cows stepped up to help.
“Apparently cows do not want suspected criminals loitering in their pasture and quickly assisted our officers by leading them directly to where the suspect was hiding,” said the Facebook post. “The cows communicated with the officers as best they could and finally just had the officers follow them to the suspect’s location.”
A comment on the post from the department also confirmed that there was a female passenger in the vehicle with Minton. The department said “she was not charged with anything therefore is not listed in the press release,” as “she just got put into a bad situation by her acquaintance.”
Ultimately, Minton was charged with one felony count of flee/elude arrest with a motor vehicle, as well as driving with license revoked and disorderly conduct. A $20,000 secured bond was set for Minton, who is scheduled to appear in Watauga County court on June 28.
“In addition to thanking our officers and deputies for putting themselves in harm’s way; obviously, we want to express our gratitude to the cows for their assistance,” said the Boone Police Department’s Facebook post. “This opens up all kinds of questions as to the bovines’ role in crime fighting. Honestly, it is something that we have not considered before now.”
It also listed the “obvious next steps of incorporating a Bovine Tracking Unit into our department’s law enforcement capabilities,” including comparing the effectiveness of cows to K9 police dog units, which have been in service since at least 1899, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund. However, the post did also say to check local media for the “real press release.”
“We at the Boone Police Department are always looking for better ways to serve our community. We may be a small town; but we are a progressive, forward thinking law enforcement agency,” the post this week from Boone police added. “For rural law enforcement, we want to be the tip of the spear.”
This isn’t the first time that cows have helped authorities solve a crime.
In 2021, the Barron County Sheriff’s Department in Wisconsin thanked the “Barron County Bovine Unit for jumping into the fray when the vehicle came into their patrol area,” after a blockade of cows ended a police chase.
“That little Cavalier that could during the chase ran out of steam encountering this moooving blockade,” it said in a Facebook post. “Job well done tonight crew.”
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