NEW YORK—It looked like an urban rodeo on the streets of New York City.

Police say a young bull made a dash for freedom through the streets of Queens Wednesday night but suddenly died before he could be taken to an animal sanctuary.

Police cars tried to steer the bull off the crowded roadways but the several-hundred-pound animal hit and damaged a squad car. An NYPD officer with urban cowboy skills lassoed the bull and it was tranquilized.

New York Center for Animal Care and Control spokesman Richard Gentles says the steer died less than an hour after it was brought in. He says veterinarians found no signs of what had caused the bull’s death.

An NYPD spokesman says it’s not known where the bull had been kept.