A cop in Louisiana lost control of his cruiser and crashed into a ditch after an owl flew inside the vehicle and pecked his head.
Covington Police Department Officer Lance Benjamin was on patrol in the city early Thursday when he felt something fly in and hit his face, according to The Times-Picayune.
He initially thought it was a football. "And then I felt some scratching on the back of my head and some pecking," he told WVUE.
"I tried to keep control of my car, went into a ditch, avoided some trees. Finally was able to stop the car, put it in park, get out. And there he was, just chilling out in the car," Benjamin told CNN.
Luckily, the officer was only traveling at 10 mph and avoided serious injury. The owl was also unharmed.
Benjamin opened the passenger-side window after getting out of the cruiser. The bird eventually flew out 45 minutes later, according to Sky News.
Covington Police Chief Tim Lentz posted a snap of the owl inside the cruiser, and footage from Benjamin's body cam during the incident to the department's Facebook page.
"Officer Benjamin suffered minor scratches and will probably need a new uniform shirt (and maybe pants)," he said in the post.
"After being checked out by medical personnel he returned to work to finish his shift with an amazing story to tell, and proof it happened," he added.
Birds have caused some trouble behind the wheel before. A man who crashed his car into a utility pole near Seattle in February blamed his accident on owl watching.
And a woman who smashed her car into a guardrail in Pennsylvania in April said her coffee-drinking pet parrot distracted her.
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