After Eric Kyff and Lauren Allen were arrested in May, their horses were kept at the Culpeper Police Department. Visit the Photo Place

CULPEPER HORSEBACK CHASE ENDS IN ARRESTS COPS CORRAL PAIR ON PONIES

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Culpeper pair face multiple charges after leading police on chase--on horseback

BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

Date published: 7/24/2007

By Scott Jenkins BY DONNIE JOHNSTON

It was like a scene out of the old Kirk Douglas movie "Lonely are the Brave."

The only difference was that Douglas, astride a strong young horse, managed to elude a posse of police cars during a chase in a modern suburban neighborhood.

Saturday night, Culpeper County cowboy Eric Kyff wasn't so lucky. While making a sharp right turn, Kyff apparently didn't see a utility pole guy wire in the dark and the obstruction unseated the fleeing rider and ended the chase, according to Culpeper town police Sgt. Scott Jenkins.

At that point, the 39-year-old Kyff and his 27-year-old riding companion, Lauren Allen, who also fell off her horse, were taken into custody.

The wild incident began about 10:30 p.m. when several people confronted a man who they claimed was urinating against the side of the 7-Eleven store on James Madison Highway, less than half a mile from the center of town.

The patrons asked the man to stop because there were children present, Jenkins said. At that point, witnesses told police the man cursed those who were complaining and went into the store.

According to Jenkins, the man later came out of the store, mounted his horse, cursed those who had complained and charged toward the group.

One man retreated behind a propane tank to get out of the way, Jenkins said.

When Officer Jeff Dodson arrived, witnesses informed him that the man and a woman had departed on horseback in the direction of the adjacent Belle Parc subdivision.

When Dodson located the riders on Meander Drive, they fled through a backyard, Jenkins said. The woman stopped briefly for the officer, but the man galloped back and told her to run. She then followed the man, Jenkins said.

But the two fleeing riders didn't get far. After turning onto Barberry Street, the man hit a mailbox just prior to reaching the utility guy wire, Jenkins said.

Kyff, who received stitches at the Culpeper Regional Hospital emergency room, was charged with riding a horse on a highway after dark without proper reflective material, being drunk in public, obstruction of justice and attempted unlawful wounding.

Allen faces the same charges, with the exception of attempted unlawful wounding. Kyff was held on a $2,500 bond while Allen was released.

Around midnight May 24, Kyff and Allen, again on horseback, were arrested on drunk-in-public and trespassing on railroad tracks charges. The arrests occurred several hours after the Culpeper Volunteer Fireman's parade in downtown Culpeper.

Allen paid a $25 fine on the drunk-in-public charge while Kyff was fined $100 on the trespassing charge, according to court documents.

After the May incident, the riders' horses spent the night tied to an improvised hitching post in front of the Culpeper Police Department offices until their owners were released the next morning.

After the incident Saturday night, the horses were turned over to Culpeper Animal Control and an animal-cruelty investigation is under way, Jenkins said.

Date published: 7/24/2007

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