A Maine Police Officer Recorded Cows Resisting Arrest

When police officer Ernest MacVane received a call about cows approaching cars in Windham, Maine, last week, he didn’t think of it as a terribly thrilling dispatch. That was before his experience was shared with thousands of people.

He arrived on the scene alone on Thursday to find a couple of cows in the road. In an effort to get them out of the street, he tried to shoo them off. Realizing the humor in the situation, officer MacVane pulled out his phone.

“I took a video to show my 10-year-old little boy named Tyler. He’s fascinated with what daddy does for work,” says MacVane.

The video depicts what MacVane calls a “possible mad cow situation.” He asks the cows to step to the side of the road and to put their hands in the air. The bold bovines don’t comply with his orders.

“Don’t run from me, I’m the police!” he shouts.

After a few more seconds of recording the chase, the video concludes with a giggle. MacVane showed the video to his supervisors—the Windham Police Department didn’t waste time sharing the video of the “fleeing felons.” It’s been posted on Facebook and Twitter, and has received thousands of likes and shares. The video was aired on Inside Edition, as well as on local news outlets.

“People are just eating it up,” says MacVane.

He explains that after the video ended, the cows ran off into a neighbor’s yard.

“I just kind of got in my car and left,” he says, laughing.

MacVane says he found out later that the cows had returned to their farm safely.

“Now cows were injured in the making of the video,” he jokes.

MacVane says the video is misleading in a way—Windham, located outside of Portland, isn’t exactly a farm town. While there are a few farms in the area, he says the town is mostly residential with a large commercial center.

“But every so often these cows come out and go for a jaunt,” he says.

He explains he’s glad the video opened the door for the public to have fun communication with the police.

“The video is just an opportunity to connect with our citizens on a more personal level,” he says.