Renegade deer chase ends in Fox River

An apparently frightened deer led St. Charles police on a brief chase Wednesday evening through downtown before leaping from a restaurant patio into the Fox River.

The buck stopped there.

The bizarre chain of events began around 5 p.m. when the deer tried to jump through a window on the north side of the police station, 2 State Ave., police spokesman Paul McCurtain said.

"We're guessing he may have seen his reflection in the glass and thought it was another male deer," McCurtain said Thursday.

The buck, described as adult in size and with antlers, then dove into the Fox River at the east bank, near the police station, and swam across to the west side, police said.

The animal then "rammed his head several times" into a fence behind the Carol Towers area before climbing a rear entrance to an outdoor dining patio at Hotel Baker, 100 W. Main St.

When police arrived at the hotel, a waitress told them the deer had leapt from the patio into the river.

McCurtain estimated the deer fell about 6 feet -- most likely to its death.

"We searched the river and couldn't come up with the deer," he said, adding that deer are not typically downtown dwellers. "I can't recall ever having a deer that close to the buildings in the immediate downtown."

The deer caused no serious damage to the police station window, McCurtain said.