California

Video: Galloping Horses Stop Traffic on Bay Area Freeway

Horses galloping down northbound I-680 in Contra Costa County snarled traffic during the Monday morning rush in the Bay Area.

Interstate 680 was briefly shut down due to a couple of horses which were spotted around 7:35 a.m., according to the California Highway Patrol.

CHP tweeted out an update at 10:28 a.m.: "CHP helps wrangle up horses on 680 ... and violating the carpool lane!"

According to a Facebook post by CHP Contra Costa, officers received a call about two horses running loose in Alamo. The horses evaded CHP units for approximately 20 minutes on city streets before making their way into I-680. Walnut Creek Police, and Contra Costa County Animal Control helped CHP officers round up the horses around 8:30 a.m. Animal Control officers safely returned the horses to their owners, CHP said.

Northbound I-680 was closed for approximately 15 minutes because of the horses, CHP said.

Sunnyvale resident John Watson had a front tow seat to the incident.

"I was in the HOV lane when all the traffic began to come to a halt, then I saw two horses coming rather quickly toward me along the center divider," Watson said. "All the other cars ahead of me proceeded ahead, so I ended up being the first stopped car in my lane. The horses ran right up to the front of my car, stopped, went to the second lane, did a little circle, and finally went a few paces ahead of my car. A police car pulled up next to them from behind me along the divider, and an officer opened his car door right in front of them, which spooked them, so they went running back in the direction they'd just come from."

That's when Watson took out his iPhone and began recording.

"While recording, 10 or more squad cars pulled up before the horses were finally coaxed off the freeway," Watson said.

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