Miami student says deer saved her from attacker

A deer springing out of the darkness can be a menace, but the opposite was true early Sunday morning when a jumping deer possibly saved a female Miami University student from serious harm.

The student told Oxford police she was at a party at a condo on Poplar Street at approximately 1:20 a.m. when she walked outside and around the condo by herself.

According to the police report, the woman was attacked by a man who used her purse strap — which was slung around her shoulder — to choke her. The attacker slapped her face and told her to be quiet.

That’s when a deer jumped up, and the woman told police she believes it startled the attacker, who ran off into an open field.

No arrest has been made, and the case still is under investigation.