California

Bull on Highway Causes Multi-Vehicle Crash Near Martinez: CHP

A black bull wandering around an East Bay highway Monday night was fatally struck by a car during a collision that triggered a six-car pileup, according to the California Highway Patrol.

One car slammed into the bull walking in the fast lane along the pitch-dark highway, CHP officier Nathan Johnson said. Five more cars behind the original collision proceeded to smash into the first vehicle. One of the cars overturned.

"It's just a bad deal for all of us," local rancher Nick Compaglia said. "We don't ever want this to happen."

Compaglia owns a number of nearby ranches, and he said the bull, which was most likely valued between $8,000 and $10,000, most likely slipped through a fence previously eroded by wet weather this winter.

"It scares us all to death when they get out on the freeway," he said.

The people involved in the crash suffered no more than minor injuries, according to Johnson. A distraught Compaglia was thankful that the situation didn't turn out any worse.

"All we're thankful for is that nobody got killed in this wreck," he said.

A Sig-alert was issued as all lanes were temporarily blocked on eastbound Highway 4, according to Johnson.

Earlier Monday, also in Contra Costa County, loose horses on a freeway brought traffic to a standstill during the morning commute on Interstate 680.

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