'Acrobatically trained' deer does 'triple axle' over police cruiser's hood

VISALIA, Ky., Dec. 2 (UPI) -- A Kentucky police officer's dashboard camera captured his collision with an acrobatic deer that performed an aerial "triple axle" before running into the woods.

The Kenton County Police Department said in a Facebook post that Officer Pittaluga was driving through Visalia when a "large deer" ran out into the road.

"Officer Pittaluga applied his brakes and steered away from the deer in a controlled manner. Although he didn't manage to avoid the collision, he did maintain control of his vehicle throughout the entire incident, even when the large (but apparently agile and acrobatically trained) deer was performing a [triple axle] over the hood of his cruiser," the post read. "Our officer was unharmed but the cruiser did sustain some damage. As for the deer, he appeared to brush off the incident before quickly running away into the woods."

The department joked that officials contacted Santa -- "we would hate to end up on the naughty list" -- but St. Nick explained he only employs reindeer, and "although this deer did appear to fly, it was not a reindeer (we still aren't clear whether we will be making the nice list or not)."

A picture posted on Facebook shows the damage to Pittaluga's cruiser.