HOWELL -- A township woman who struck a deer while driving earlier this month had to kick the antlered buck to prevent it from jumping into her SUV after she pulled over on a Monmouth County road.

The woman's bizarre encounter with the deer was caught on a Howell police officer's dash camera.

Howell police Patrolman Nicholas Austin was driving on Oak Glen Road around 8 p.m. on Sept. 17 when he saw a deer cross the road several hundred feet in front of him, Detective Sgt. Christian Antunez, a spokesman for the Howell Township Police Department, said in a statement.

Not sure if a 2008 GMC Envoy driving in front of him struck the deer, Austin pulled over behind the vehicle to assist the driver, Ellen Sager.

As Austin pulled up, he witnessed the same deer run back across the road and try to enter the SUV after Sager opened the driver's side door.

Sager was still in the driver's seat and had to struggle with the buck, finally giving it a kick and closing the door quickly.

"It was mad, real mad," Sager said of the deer in an interview with News 12. "It happened so fast. I just grabbed a handful of antlers and tried to keep it from killing me."

Sager walked away from the encounter with a minor injury to her knee. The deer, however, died as a result of the impact with the car.

Alex Napoliello may be reached at anapoliello@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @alexnapoNJ. Find NJ.com on Facebook.