CHP pursues Chihuahua on Bay Bridge then gives him a fitting name

The little black dog had made it onto the Bay Bridge and was heading toward San Francisco early Sunday. Then the California Highway Patrol caught wind of a pup on the run.

Soon, the cops were on his tail.

About 7 a.m., Officer Vu Williams and his partner located the Chihuahua on the westbound side of the bridge. Williams drove his patrol car and his partner followed the animal on a motorcycle.

The dog proved an elusive target.

While Williams stopped traffic, the other officer zoomed ahead to try and scoop up the dog -- but the animal took off running.

The officers tried about four times to pick up the animal, but each time he escaped capture.

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Williams whipped out his iPhone and managed to record a few seconds of the pursuit, and it quickly went viral once it was posted to one of the CHP’s Twitter accounts.

After about five to 10 minutes, Williams drove up ahead of the animal, hopped out and used his jacket to hem the dog against the bridge’s wall. His partner stepped in and collared the animal.

“We’ve had dogs on the bridge, all sorts of animals: seals, turtles, you name it. We never had one that took off and took so long to get,� Williams said.

The dog appeared to be in good health and was taken to San Francisco County Animal Care.

Officers found a collar on the dog, but it had no identifying information. Williams said he did not know whether the dog had an implanted identification microchip.

If authorities cannot identify him and he’s not claimed within five days, he’ll be put up for adoption, Williams said.

For now, the rescued animal has earned the name Ponch, after Erik Estrada’s character on the TV series “CHiPs.�

For breaking news in California, follow @MattHjourno.

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