It was one of those moments with an irresistible emotional tug.
They were driving east on Highway 91 in Riverside when they saw it: a kitten stranded on the west side.
The woman behind the wheel and her male passenger, both in their 20s, made a quick decision.
They took the next exit and circled back, slowing to about 30 mph in the HOV lane with the car’s hazard lights on.
They saw the kitten. The driver hit the brakes and stopped, pulling as far out of the carpool lane as the narrow shoulder would allow. The passenger jumped out, took off his shirt and scooped up the kitten.
And it was then a beautiful moment just leading up to a disaster Wednesday afternoon.
According to the California Highway Patrol, a trailing car didn’t brake in time and swerved into the center divider, heading straight for the man holding the cat.
The man thought he was going to be killed and tried to jump over the wall and lost the cat.
To avoid him, the driver swerved, clipped the bumper of another car, then drove across all lanes of the highway until the vehicle hit a tractor-trailer.
The good news? No one was seriously injured; The Riverside Fire Department said one person was taken to the hospital for treatment of minor injuries, It was reported by CBS. The semi drove away, apparently unaware that it had been hit. And the cat escaped alive.
But it’s not necessarily over for the would-be rescuers, whose names were not released. The case remains under investigation with potential non-emergency stop and obstruction of traffic violations, said Javier Navarro, public information officer for the CHP in Riverside.
“The amazing thing is that the cat made it, but these people made a big mess,” Navarro said. “Who stops on the freeway like this?”