This Plucky Chihuahua Got A Taste Of Freedom By Leading San Francisco Police On A High Speed Chase

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The California Highway Patrol had quite the handful Sunday morning when a tiny, 10 pound chihuahua gave chase, leading officers on a high speed pursuit across the top level of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, as captured in a video tweeted out by CHP San Francisco. An officer on a motorcycle stayed close behind until the majestic creature could be apprehended, only about five minutes all told, which was something he clearly never learned about at the police academy.

After it was captured, the Chihuahua was taken to a San Francisco animal shelter where staff members named him Ponch, after the CHP Officer Frank Poncherello played by Erik Estrada in the TV series “CHiPs.”

The dog was wearing a collar with a skull tag on it, but otherwise no identification useful in tracking him back to his owners. Ponch will be held by the San Francisco Department of Animal Care and Control for five days, and if his owner doesn’t claim him in that time, he’ll be put up for adoption.

Here’s the original footage of the chase tweeted by the CHP. I highly recommend listening to John Barry’s “Born Free” while watching it.

(Via CBS News and Chicago Tribune)