Two Injured In Collision With Runaway Horses On Tulsa Highway

Six horses are dead and at least four accidents have injured two motorists early Friday morning on U.S. Highway 169 between Owasso and Tulsa. <BR><BR><A href="http://www.cityoftulsa.org/live-traffic-report.aspx" target=_blank>Tulsa Police - traffic accidents</A>

Friday, October 16th 2009, 7:28 am

By: News On 6

Two Injured In Collision With Runaway Horses On Tulsa Highway

By Emory Bryan and NewsOn6.com

TULSA, OK -- Two people were injured in four accidents caused by escaping horses along Highway 169 south of Owasso.

The accident took place early Friday morning on U.S. Highway 169 between Owasso and Tulsa.

Owasso Police and Tulsa Police say 20 to 30 horses got loose from a pasture east of the highway near 56th Street North and wandered onto 169 at about 3 a.m.

That forced police to shut down 169 in both directions just south of 56th Street North for about three and a half hours.

Before police could get the highway closed, two vehicles struck horses causing both vehicles to crash.

A red Dodge Neon hit a horse in the southbound lanes. The driver lost control and ran off the road to the right side and into a tree. Firefighters and paramedics worked to free him, but he was seriously hurt.

The roof of the car was crushed by the horse going over the top.

EMSA transported 35-year-old Brandon Osborn in serious condition and a 19-year-old man who has not been identified in fair condition to area hospitals.

A News On 6 photojournalist happened to capture one of the crashes on video with his dash camera at about 4:15 a.m. [WARNING: VIDEO MAY BE GRAPHIC]

Tulsa Police say two other wrecks happened on nearby Port Road and also involved vehicles hitting horses on the roadway. The other two people in the accidents have been identified as truck driver Allen Helberson and Edward Unger. Neither were injured.

All lanes of U.S. Highway 169 were re-opened to traffic shortly after 7 a.m., once police confirmed that all the horses had been accounted for and the survivors were back in their pasture.

"Once we realized that we had this many horses out here, getting enough manpower out here to shut down the highway in Owasso and here, it takes a while the get the manpower here," said Sgt Bob Rohloff, Tulsa Police.

Police said the horses came from Green Hill Farms on the east side of the highway. The farm has a polo field and a large pasture that borders Highway 169.

Authorities spent hours in the dark, making sure the horses were rounded up and safely returned to their pasture.