Hero Cops Rescue Hopeless Cows

CHICAGO (CBS) - West Chicago looked like the Wild West for a short time Thursday when four police officers were sent out on a cow chase.

CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports how the officers were able to wrangle them up off a busy street.

Estrella and Chilaquin are safe and sound in their West Chicago pen, but only after police officers rounded them up off of North Avenue after a concerned driver called 911.

"I was further down on the other side of town and when I heard the call, I knew I had to see it for myself," said Officer Sara Gelsomino of the West Chicago Police Department.

Community Service Officer, Antonio Garcia, and the other officers spotted the befuddled bovines in the parking lot of a vacant car dealership.

"They basically came right up to us," said Patrol Officer Adam Reavley.  "It was easier than calling my own dog."

Garcia says he's dealt first-hand with cows on his grandfather's farm. He was able to use a dog leash to lasso them.

"It was an utterly different call," said Garcia, laughing. "I saw that they were moooving slowly and was able to approach them and grab onto them."

The cow cavalry went on a mission to find the owners. They found them about a quarter mile away.

"She was in shock," said Garcia. "She didn't know they ran away."

The cow pen has been secured tight.

The cow's owners tell CBS 2 they got out of their pen by pushing their heads against the gate repeatedly until it came loose and opened.

As far as escaping, they say this is not the cow's first rodeo.