A Joy Ride With a Difference--It Was on Horseback in Carson

It wasn’t exactly a case for Wyatt Earp, but Carson sheriff’s deputies were immediately suspicious when they saw a man riding bareback through a business district in the middle of the night.

The rider and horse, apparently out of control, ran through an intersection while galloping early Tuesday through the urban streets of an unincorporated area near Carson, sheriff’s officials said.

Deputies noticed that the rider was less than an expert horseman, Detective Ron Marquez said.

“The rider seemed to have difficulty staying on the horse,” Sgt. Robert McPherson said.

Deputies followed the man as he rode east on 154th Street near the intersection of Haskins Avenue at about 12:40 a.m., McPherson said. An 18-year-old Los Angeles man was pulled over and arrested on suspicion of grand theft of a horse after failing to provide ownership papers, officials said.

Two juvenile friends of the rider, one following in a car and the other on foot, were also arrested, deputies said.

“Anybody that’s riding a horse at 12:40 a.m., I’d pull him over too,” McPherson said.

The horse, named Duke, belongs to Sonny Phillips of Los Angeles, who declined to press charges, deputies said. The young man, a horse enthusiast and an acquaintance of Phillips, took Duke for a joy ride to show the horse to the two juveniles, Marquez said.

He told authorities that he intended to return the horse to Phillips, Marquez said.

“It was one of those juvenile pranks,” Marquez said, adding that he lectured the three about the seriousness of the incident.

Duke, a purebred Tennessee walking horse, was taken from his stable on Figueroa Street near the intersection of El Segundo Boulevard, Phillips said.

“I went up to feed him in the morning and he was gone,” Phillips said. Normally, Duke doesn’t go very far from Phillips’ two other horses, he said.

“It’s like one big, happy family around here,” Phillips said.

The youths told deputies where the horse was stabled, and Phillips was contacted later in the morning.

Because Duke is high-strung, Phillips said, “it’s real lucky no one got hurt. Once his blood gets hot, it’s hard to control him.”