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Hit-and-Run Driver Leaves Injured Horse, Trailer Behind

SACRAMENTO, CA - CHP investigators were searching for the driver of a pickup truck who rear-ended a car of Interstate 5 Saturday night, then took off, leaving a horse trailer -- and an injured horse --behind.

The crash happened on southbound I-5 just south of Airport Road in Sacramento around 10:08 p.m. Saturday, according to CHP spokesman Todd Van Lindt.

VIDEO: Crews work to free trapped injured horse after crash; 8/1/09, 10:30 p.m.

Investigators said a Toyota Corolla traveling southbound was rear-ended by a black Dodge pickup, causing a horse trailer hooked to the pickup to detach and overturn. The pickup driver fled the scene and left the lone horse stuck inside the flipped carrier, Van Lindt said.

A veterinarian from the Bradshaw Veterinary Clinic was called out to help free the horse from the trailer.

The horse suffered cuts to his back and legs and was transported to the UC Davis Veterinary Hospital for treatment.

"We did have to cut a portion of the trailer out as well as use a tranquilizer sedative on the horse and really manpower the horse out," CHP Sgt. David Barker said. Barker estimated the horse weighed somewhere between 1,200 and 1,500 pounds.

The animal was moved to the county animal shelter Sunday afternoon, where he was stablized and expected to make a fully recovery, county shelter spokeswoman Chris Andis said.

The woman driving the Corolla, 62-year-old Darlene Lee Biedenbender of Cameron Park, was not hurt in the collision.

Van Lindt said despite leaving the horse and trailer behind, investigators had little to go on to find the driver of the pickup. There were no reported witnesses to the crash or traffic cameras posted in the area, Van Lindt said.

News10/KXTV