A deer crashed through the front window of Dolphin Dreaming, knocking over a set of wind chimes and wreaking havoc before running out. Witnesses report last seeing the deer near the post office after it tried to go through another store.

Rehoboth Beach Police Chief Keith Banks said officers followed a blood trail all the way to Stingray restaurant on Lake Avenue but were unable to locate the deer.

The manager of Rehoboth Beach Art Gallery, who goes by the single name Sims, said, “About 9:25 a deer broke into the front. Two ladies from the Sea Shell Shop told me there was a deer in there. I went to look through the window to see the deer running around the store. I literally stepped back and the deer came running out. It was heavily cut up. Half of its back foot was hanging off. It looked like it charged head first into the store.”

Sims said he looked in the store because he was worried about Dolphin Dreaming owner Gary Turton’s dog, Babe. Sims said the deer was running through the store the same way the dog normally does.

Witnesses were all in good humor about the deer invasion afterward, and a cleaning crew was on the scene cleaning up the damage. As Sims said, the deer was bleeding heavily, tracking blood throughout the store.

“He ran up behind the counter, all the way in the back of the store, up one aisle, down the other aisle,” Turton said. “Up and down and around. Blood splattered on the walls. Gross.”

Turton said the police department was notified shortly after the deer broke in. He said the deer broke through a quarter-inch thick pane of glass to get in and out of the store. The wind chimes that were knocked over are 6 to 7 feet high. No one was in the store at the time.

Erikah Fitz, an employee with Sea Shell Shop, said she called the police after a customer told her about the deer in the store. Fitz said when the deer escaped the store, it chased Henry Viau, an employee with Ohana’s restaurant.

“So I’m on the phone with the state police and the K-9 unit, and they thought something was wrong with me because I’m screaming. The deer, it was walking around and its face was just completely mangled. It’s nose and stuff was pretty much gone; it was just teeth. It walked out pretty slow because it didn’t know what it was doing. It seemed very calm and then it saw everybody. Henry’s a big guy, and it saw him and just chased him out toward Dunkin’ Donuts,” Fitz said.

The police and the K-9 patrol went after the deer from there.

“It was intense,” she said.

Fitz said the deer was about waist high, 3 to 4 feet tall, and had a small set of antlers.

Banks confirmed the witness accounts and said deer incidents like this happen two or three times a year, including one last week.

Banks said with the hunting season starting up, deer are on the move.