Runaway bull that led NYPD on chase through Queens dies after being tranquilized

— -- A bull that led police on a wild goose chase through New York City earlier today has died just hours after it was captured, according to a New York Police Department source briefed on the incident.

The bull was originally spotted roaming the streets of the city's Jamaica, Queens, neighborhood late this morning after escaping from a slaughterhouse, according to ABC's New York station WABC.

A local named Jimmy King told WABC he was nearly mauled by the animal.

"[If] I didn't move to the left like this, he would have got me," King said. "Thank God I'm alive."

At one point, the bull began grazing on someone's lawn. But once police officers closed in on it, the bull got spooked and trotted off again, according to video recorded by WABC.

Several times during the chase, the bull squeezed through and narrowly avoided cop cars that tried to pin it down.

Police officers were eventually able to corral the animal and shoot it with several darts containing tranquilizers, WABC reported.

Once the bull was sedated, it was loaded onto a vehicle for transport to a local animal shelter -- but it didn't survive for long.

Animal Care Centers of NYC said the bull was dead on arrival when it arrived at the Brooklyn facility, according to WABC.

The police source told ABC News that while the NYPD is good at many things, the department has proved deficient in bull wrangling.

"We're really not good at it," the source said. "They don't train us for that in the academy."