Driver Kills Deer — On Purpose, Cops Say

A 29-year-old West Bend man killed a deer using his pickup truck while in Port Washington — and We Energies security camera footage proves it was all on purpose, police say.

The West Bend man made contact with Port Washington police at 5:25 a.m. April 27 to report that he had struck a deer while on his way to go fishing, according to a police report. The man wanted to claim the deer.

The officer made his way to the location, on South Beach Road just east of South Wisconsin Street, the report said. Upon arrival, he noticed "a lot of deer fur in the road," as well as the deceased animal.

The officer made contact with the Ozaukee County Sheriff's Office, as they carry deer tags, the report said. Meanwhile, a phone call came in from an employee at the We Energies plant regarding the accident.

The call was transferred to the officer on scene. The employee told the officer that the security camera footage had caught this so-called accident on tape, and that it actually was no accident at all: the driver of the pickup truck intentionally drove down South Beach Road at a high rate of speed and hit the deer on purpose, according to the caller.

At this time, the officer made contact with a Department of Natural Resources warden to investigate the incident before awarding a tag; the officer then went to the We Energies plant to review the video footage, the report said. 

The footage showed the man's pickup driving north on South Beach Road, stopping at the intersection of South Beach Road and South Wisconsin Street, then backing up and flashing its brights at the deer to try and get them to move, the report said. After a short period of time, the deer took off running. The truck follws the deer around the corner, stops, backs up briefly, and then drives forward and accelerates at a high rate of speed — eventually striking the deer.

"It does appear that the operator of the pickup truck was doing this on purpose with the intent of killing the deer, the officer wrote in the report.

Another employee of We Energies also witnessed the incident while standing outside the plant, describing a scene similar to that caught on video, but also indicating that he heard what he thought was somebody from inside the pickup whistling to also spook the deer.

The officer returned to the scene of the accident and told the DNR warden he believed this deer was killed on purpose, the report said. The officer spoke with the passenger in the car while the warden continued his interview with the driver.

The passenger gave a different story than that told by the video, the report said. The passenger said he had been sleeping on the drive to the lake, and the driver stopped the vehicle and pointed out the deer. Eventually, the deer took off running, and they saw three of the four deer cross the road. They did not know where the fourth one went and then out of nowhere the fourth one came across the road from the north to the south, and the passenger said the collision could not have been avoided.

Police determined that the driver did kill the deer on purpose, and cited the man for endangering the safety of a person or property, a $303 ticket.