2 hurt in NY when deer jumps through minivan

ELLENBURG, N.Y. (AP) - A family was on a drive and enjoying the fall foliage when a six-point buck flew through one side of their minivan and out the other, leaving them showered with glass and wondering what just happened, a member of the family said Tuesday.

"If my daughter hadn't been lying down in the back seat she would have been killed," said Chris Perry of Chateaugay, near the Canadian border. Her husband, 61-year-old John Perry, and their 16-year-old daughter were treated at a Plattsburgh hospital for minor injuries and released after Thursday's accident.

Perry said her husband was driving about 45 or 50 mph on Route 374 in Ellenburg, not far from their home, when they heard a loud bang around 4:45 p.m. Thursday.

"Then it was raining glass, getting in our hair, and our daughter was screaming in the back seat," Perry said. "My husband pulled over and we opened the door to get her out; then a guy ran over and said a deer flew through the van. We didn't know what had happened."

Perry said the deer apparently leaped out of the woods and smashed through the rear windows on the driver's side, landed on the teen, and launched itself through the glass on the passenger side while the van was still moving. The deer died.

"It's amazing that there's nothing wrong with the van except four of six windows were smashed," Perry said.

Perry said her husband didn't want the deer meat, so rescue volunteers took it home.