Exclusive: Coyote runs loose in Chelsea

CHELSEA -- A wild scene played out in Manhattan Tuesday morning when a coyote was spotted in a park in Chelsea.

In video obtained exclusively by Eyewitness News, the full-grown animal is seen roaming a park, eluding authorities and drawing a sizable crowd.

The wild animal was eventually captured, but not before leading police on a lengthy chase, ducking and dodging their attempts to catch it.

Richard Pichardo says he was on his way his way to work when he noticed a commotion along 9th Avenue near 28th Street.

"When I first got here, I was curious just like everybody else, and I asked what was it," he said. "When they told me a coyote, I figured it was just a small one."

But when he pulled out his cell phone to capture the chase, the animal he saw was anything but small.

"When I caught a good video and I seen the size of him, was large, 60 maybe 70 pounds," he said. "And if he was standing up, he would be taller than me."

Officers from the 10th Precinct first spotted the coyote running in a courtyard of the Church of the Holy Apostles. Emergency Services Unit officers responded and used a dart gun with a KETASET solution to sedate the coyote.

"A lot of time, these animals, I don't think they really want any part of us," ESU Detective Robert Mirfield said. "You have to approach these job very carefully, take your time, use your training and hope for the best."

KETASET is a rapid-acting, nonnarcotic, nonbarbiturate agent for anesthetic use in cats, which may be used for restraint or as the sole anesthetic agent for diagnostic or minor, brief, surgical procedures that do not require skeletal muscle relaxation.

The coyote was taken to the ASPCA at East 110th Street and First Avenue.

Officials are working on a release plan.