On the run: RTD Transit Police help capture escaped emu at Oak Station

No two days of working for RTD Transit Police are ever the same. On Monday morning, what began as a routine security check for officers quickly turned into one of the most unexpected calls of the year.

Around 8:30 a.m. on Aug. 18, officer Leon Duran and his partner, officer Alejandro Reyes Lopez, were patrolling Oak Station in Lakewood when they spotted an animal control officer chasing something large and unusual down the street.

“This was our first time encountering anything like this,” Duran said.

The "something unusual" turned out to be an emu. Duran and Lopez joined the chase as the oversized bird sprinted through the Park-n-Ride and into the fenced parking lot of a nearby apartment complex on Colfax Avenue.

By then, additional Lakewood Police officers had arrived to assist. Working together, the group carefully cornered the bird. Lopez secured the emu by the neck while animal control placed a rope over its head. Duran then wrapped the bird’s legs in a towel to prevent it from kicking, and a second towel was placed over its head to keep it calm. With three people assisting, the emu was safely loaded into a vehicle and taken home.

Click here to watch video of emu rescue

While the incident might seem out of the ordinary, animal control later told the officers that emus are known to live on properties between Garrison and Oak stations.

“You just never know what’s going to come throughout the day,” Duran said. “You can’t really prepare for something like this. You have to be on your toes.”

This encounter highlights the wide range of calls Transit Police respond to every day, from supporting partner agencies to keeping communities safe in unpredictable situations.

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