Runaway Horse Carriage Rescued by Teen in Taxi

In Indianapolis, Indiana a heroic teenager rescued tourists that were in a carriage pulled by a runaway horse in truly old west style.

In today's offbeat news 19 year old William Basler came to the rescue of two tourists who got a different kind of city tour. When seeing the horse runaway with the tourists in tow the young man immediately pursued them. A taxi driver was nearby and pulled up to Basler and told him to get in. When he caught up with the carriage Basler leap from the taxi and onto the seat of the carriage in what looked like a stunt out of a Wild Wild West western. Once in the seat Basler gabbed the horse's reins and pulled the horse to a stop.

The accident occurred when the carriage carrying the tourists, a 'Yellow Rose Carriage, collided with a van on Sunday. When the crash occurred the driver of the tourist's carriage was thrown from the carriage and the horse was spooked resulting in it running off in an uncontrolled panic.

William Basler described the accident as, "The carriage driver lady just flew off the carriage." "It was just instinct. I was just worried about the people inside of it."

Basler relied completely on his courage and good instincts to make the rescue as he has no real horse experience to help him, his one time horse riding experience not providing enough preparation for dealing with events such as horses running away through city streets.

According to local police the driver of the carriage was 53-year-old Kathleen Moriarty. Moriarty is ok after the accident despite being knocked unconscious when she fell from the carriage.

The two passengers of the carriage reported a few aches and bumps after their ordeal but received no major injuries. Both passengers were taken to the hospital after the incident for a precautionary examination. The horse pulling the carriage was said to also be ok after the accident.

The driver of the van is said to be 46-year-old Timothy D. Carlson, a resident of Indianapolis, who has previous charges of driving under the influence and probably should not have been behind the wheel of a vehicle. Carlson's previous charges include driving under the influence, driving with no license, being drunk in public and possession of controlled substances.

The police have said that when Carlson hit the horse drawn carriage with his van that he was driving under the influence.

Sources
http://www.cbc.ca/cp/Oddities/070409/K040906AU.html
http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2007/04/09/ap3593871.html
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/bizarre/4698611.html