Video shows deputies responding to unusual call: “I have a bobcat in my car”

Authorities in Wisconsin responded to an unusual call late Tuesday night that resulted in dramatic bodycam footage. Portage County Sheriff Mike Lukas said on Facebook that the office’s dispatch received a call from a driver, saying “I have a bobcat in my car.” 

“You can only imagine what everyone was thinking at the time, so when they dispatched over the radio numerous deputies were curious,” Lukas wrote.

Three deputies responded to the location, he said, and were in “shock” to find a bobcat in the vehicle. 

“My deputies are really good at solving problems but this one baffled them so we called in reinforcements,” Lukas wrote. 

That meant summoning conservation warden Bryan Lockman, who was a “pro at getting the critter out and in his truck and returned to the wild,” Lukas wrote. 

Video shows Lockman and one other person coaxing the bobcat from the grille of the car with an animal control pole. The pole allows the creature to be held at a safe distance while being transported. 

Once removed from the vehicle, the animal is seen fighting against the pole before being placed in the back of a truck while police look on in surprise. 

Body camera footage shows that the bobcat was removed from the car around 10 p.m. local time. 

“All in a day’s work at the Portage County Sheriff’s Office and the Wisconsin DNR,” Lukas wrote.