CHP takes on wayward baby geese in ‘slowest pursuit ever’

By the standard of police pursuits, the one that unfolded on Interstate 80 in Berkeley wasn't the fastest or most dangerous. But it was the cutest.

California Highway Patrol officers found themselves in their "slowest pursuit ever" Sunday morning, while trying to corral a gaggle of baby geese off the road.

Around 9 a.m., officers received multiple calls for a gaggle of baby geese blocking the lanes on the Eastbound I-80, near Ashby Avenue. When officers arrived on scene, they found the geese had traveled to the westbound side and were in the fast lane, said CHP Officer Sean Wilkenfeld.

A Facebook post on the CHP Oakland page showed a patrol car slowly following after the "felonious fowl." All lanes were blocked, as three patrol cars were used to corral the geese to the right hand shoulder, Wilkenfeld said.

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"Once we had them on the right hand shoulder we reopened all the other lanes and just blocked the slow lane, as we had the world's slowest police pursuit," Wilkenfeld said. "Not only did they block lanes, but it was quite the spectacle."

The baby geese were escorted to the Powell Street exit and were able to access the bay from there.

"We returned them to their natural habitat," he said. "Nobody was taken into custody." 

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Wilkenfeld said the incident is a good reminder for drivers not to leave their cars or attempt to chase the animals down.

"I know it sounds silly to call 911 because there's a dog or there's some geese in the middle of the freeway, but it won't sound silly if somebody swerves to avoid them and now we have a giant collision," he said.

brittny.mejia@latimes.com

Follow me on Twitter: @brittny_mejia

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