Escaped cows clog New Jersey highway

BRANCHBURG, NJ (WABC) -- Call it the Great Cow Escape.

Newscopter7 was overhead as more than a dozen cows turned the Monday morning commute into a cattle drive across Route 202 in Branchburg, New Jersey.

Police managed to corral one group of cows in a parking lot, while other cows tried to cross the road.

The cows are back at a nearby dairy farm and traffic is flowing again. But for a brief period, 30 or so cows caused quite a ruckus.

They made their way through the woods and onto the highway after one cow apparently found an uprooted fencepost caused by recent rain. When she broke camp, her fieldmates followed.

So three of Branchburg's finest switched hats and became cattlemen for awhile.

"I am now a cattle herder," Sergeant Anthony DeMatteo said. "Where normally we've never had that, these officers and myself are now experts in moving cattle...it wasn't that difficult. They are very docile animals, and once we had them corralled, they pretty much hung out."

DeMatteo got a lot of help from officers Bryan Macartney and Roger Schneider. No humans or bovine were injured during the incident.

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WEB PRODUCED BY: Bill King

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