County commissioner’s bull escapes, injures woman

It was déjà vu all over again Saturday in the northwest valley when yet another large animal got loose and caused chaos in the city streets. This time, it was a bull owned by Clark County Commissioner Tom Collins, not CJ the chimpanzee who escaped her enclosure last weekend.

The bull got out of a pen late Saturday afternoon and charged a 42-year-old woman, sending her to the hospital with minor injuries, North Las Vegas police said.

Although the woman's injuries weren't serious, it was a precarious situation that could have worsened had police not been able to tranquilize the bull, said Sgt. Tim Bedwell, a North Las Vegas police public information officer.

Collins was cited on a misdemeanor charge of "livestock at large." The offense carries a fine of up to $1,000 or six months in jail, Bedwell said. A cow also escaped from Collins' property, but wreaked little havoc in comparison to its male counterpart.

"I don't remember personally, ever, an incident where this has happened and police were called to the scene," Bedwell said. "We had no choice but to tranquilize it. Had the tranquilizer not worked, we would've had to have shot it."

The incident unfolded at 4:30 p.m., about a half mile from Collins' property in the 4200 block of North Decatur Boulevard, near West Craig Road. The bull and the cow were returned to Collins' property less than three hours after the initial report.

Clark County Animal Control and North Las Vegas Animal Control worked together to transport the animals back to Collins' property, Bedwell said.

This is not the first time North Las Vegas police have responded to an incident involving Collins.

On the night of July 3, Collins was drinking and shooting on his North Las Vegas property, according to a police report. He now faces misdemeanor charges of unlawfully discharging a firearm within the city limits and disturbing the peace. Collins is scheduled to be arraigned Sept. 24 in the city's Municipal Court.

Last week, CJ, the female chimp, escaped in northwest Las Vegas. Las Vegas police and Animal Control officers cut the escape short and shot the chimp with a tranquilizer in the vicinity of Rowland Avenue, near Jones Boulevard and Ann Road. CJ is now at an Oregon sanctuary.

On July 12, CJ's male counterpart, Buddy, was shot and killed by Las Vegas police after the two animals slipped out of their enclosure.

Bedwell said it took two darts to put Collins' bull to sleep.

"I heard it was napping pretty heavily by the time I arrived," Bedwell said.