Runaway 'Unicorn' Leads Police On A 4-Hour Chase

It's not all rainbows and unicorns for cops in central California.

A pony dressed up as the mythical spiral-horned beast escaped from a photoshoot and evaded capture for four hours on Wednesday night.

At 5:30 p.m., Juliet bolted from a home in the Fresno suburb of Madera Ranchos just as owner Sandra Boos was taking pictures of her with a child.

Multiple drivers reported seeing the 400-pound animal, wearing a pink halter and horn, trotting into traffic on different highways.

California Highway Patrol officers scrambled a helicopter with heat-seeking radar, and located Juliet in an orchard. She reportedly shied away from officers when approached, but eventually followed a horse ridden by Boos' friend Renee Pardy into a pen.

"I was standing with the CHP at the time and a call came over the radio that said the unicorn is in custody, and there was a huge sigh of relief, a few tears and some laughter," Boos told KMPH News. "It was the comedic relief needed in the moment."

A professional photographer, Boos regularly dresses Juliet as a unicorn for photo shoots with children. She told the New York Daily News that Juliet had also escaped earlier in the day from a children's party and was "a little sore from running five miles," but was otherwise fine.

CHP officer Joshua McConnell told Fox 2 it was fortunate there was a happy ending.

"No injures were reported but there were several near misses (by cars). The pony was just lucky. It was returned to it's owner unharmed and was secured," McConnell said. "But had the pony been hit by a car, it would have been a different story."

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