By Police1 Staff
NEW YORK — A unit of firefighters rescued a NYPD cop who got trapped in a tree Monday after climbing up to save a cat.
NY Post reported that Dave Natto and his partner responded to frantic 911 calls about a stray cat stuck in a tree.
Once at the scene, Natto climbed the tree, but the cat scampered out of reach each time he got close, according to the report. Natto, up 30 feet in the air, called off the chase and told his partner that he couldn’t get back down.
“We looked out the window, and we saw the cop inside the tree — sitting,” said spectator Luna Giuong. “[His] partner was laughing at him.”
Natto’s partner called out for assistance from the FDNY. Dispatchers had to ask him to repeat what was going on since they couldn’t believe what they were hearing, according to the report.
NY Post reported that when the firefighters arrived, “they didn’t go straight to helping him,” Giuong said. “They all gathered around and laughed at him. They took their time just crowding around. It seemed the officer was enjoying himself.”
After the ribbing, the firefighters laddered the tree — and grabbed the quivering cat first, according to the report. Then, a smiling Natto climbed down the ladder.
The cat was taken to a local veterinarian and Natto, other than his ego, was unbruised, according to the report.