Coyote improving after jumping from Indiana garage

GARY, Ind. - A young coyote is healing from a broken leg it suffered when it jumped from the fourth floor of a northwestern Indiana parking garage while trying to escape capture.

Yolanda Thigpen said she saw the coyote staring at her when she got out of her car Tuesday morning in a downtown Gary garage that's being prepared for demolition. Thigpen, who works for a company renovating a former bank building nearby, said she called police right away but the dispatcher at first sounded like she didn't believe her.

"I guess she thought I was joking," she told the Post-Tribune.

The coyote fell to the sidewalk below after police and animal control officers tried to catch it. The coyote was taken to Westchester Animal Clinic in Porter.

Becky Bolton, a veterinary assistant at Westchester, said the juvenile female's front right leg was broken and had to be anesthetized so a splint could be put on the fracture.

"As soon as her leg is better, we take the splint off her and let her go," Bolton said. "She's pretty groggy now, but other than that, she looks pretty healthy."