Runaway horse shuts down section of I-74

A horse escaped its pen on the city’s Southeastside this morning, forcing the temporary closure of a section of I-74 while police captured the animal.

The incident occurred around 3:30 a.m., an Indiana State Police dispatcher said, when motorists spotted the horse walking in the median near the westbound lanes of I-74 near Post Road.

All lanes of the interstate were closed to allow police to round up the horse, the dispatcher said.

An Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department officer brought a rope and bridle to the scene, she said. He managed to approach the horse and lead it off the interstate.

By 6:30 a.m. , the horse was back with its owners, the dispatcher said. It escaped though a spot in its enclosure where a fence was recently damaged by a vehicle that ran off the interstate, she said.

Call Star reporter Bill McCleery at (317) 444-6083. Follow him on Twitter: @BillMcCleery01.