A scared deer looking for an escape plowed right through the front door of a shopping mall in downtown St. Michael Wednesday morning. The commotion and flying glass was a conversation stopper for the breakfast crowd dining at Sadie's Cafe.
"It was startling," said cafe co-owner Kim Walden. "They just sat there."
Walden spotted the three- to four-year-old buck running down Hwy. 241 in front of the Colonial Mall around 7:45 a.m. A car on the main street that runs through the Wright County town just west of the Twin Cities apparently spooked the deer. The deer turned into the parking lot and ran straight toward the mall door.
Surveillance video caught the moment the frightened buck crashed through the door, right next to Sadie's.
The buck was trapped in a mall corridor for a few minutes until one of Walden's chefs opened the back door to set the bloodied animal free. The injured deer managed to stumble off into a cornfield but left an antler behind. Walden now has it in her eatery.
"We have a souvenir," she said. "I'm just thankful he didn't come in for breakfast. He could have caused a lot of damage and customers could have gotten hurt."
Walden said her husband, Richard, fixed the mall's front door and the shopping center was opened as usual.
Tim Harlow • 612-673-7768
