Mounted Patrol Horse Throws Off NYPD Officer, Runs Wild Through Times Square
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- An NYPD Mounted Unit Horse threw off an officer and bolted down the street in Times Square Wednesday evening.
As CBS2's Tracee Carrasco reported, it was like a scene from the Wild West when the horse, named Gunny, was seen bolting down the busy roads.
Around 7:45 p.m., a loud noise spooked Gunny on 48th Street between Sixth and Seventh avenues, police told CBS2.
The officer was thrown from the horse, which ran east to Sixth Avenue and then ran south to 47th Street before turning west, police said. Traffic on Sixth Avenue runs one way northbound.
Gunny then went into an Icon parking garage on 47th Street, police said. The garage is where the Mounted Unit keeps its horses during breaks.
The horse was not loose for very long, but three vehicles were damaged during the horse's wild run -- including a yellow cab, police said.
"When I looked up, I didn't see no officer on it and the seat was hanging off the horse, and then it came here and went into the garage and started doing some two-step," said witness Ace Guzman, "and then I guess he was telling everyone to get out of the way. And he went right down into the cul-de-sac where they go for their break."
"People get scared for minutes. We moved away on the sides, and then some people were screaming," said witness Karem Khalil. "But thank God nobody got hurt."
The officer was not injured, but was rushed to Bellevue Hospital Center as a precaution, police said.
