Giant, inflatable pumpkin rolls through Arizona streets

Ana Reynolds and Monique Griego | KPNX-TV, Phoenix

Show Caption Hide Caption Watch gigantic inflatable pumpkin roll down street Storm gusts in Peoria, Arizona cause a giant, inflatable pumpkin to roll through streets, crashing into cars and light poles.

PEORIA, Ariz. — Halloween came early for drivers and pedestrians as a giant, inflatable pumpkin emerged from a group of trees before bouncing through an Arizona intersection and down the roadway Thursday.

A video caught the pumpkin's journey in Peoria.

The video shows the 25-foot tall, 350-pound orange jack-o'-lantern roll across multiple lanes of traffic before it got stuck beneath a streetlight pole. It then broke free and rolled off into the distance.

"I was so shocked to see that it was like bouncing like a basketball all the way down the road," said Patrick Sparkes with Big AZ Promotions.

Big AZ Promotions, the owners of the pumpkin, didn't know what to expect when they got the call that their pumpkin was on the loose.

"We showed up and it wasn't there and we spent the last 40 minutes driving around looking for it," Sparkes said.

After the pumpkin got free from the streetlight pole, it traveled about a quarter of a mile by bouncing over a wall, rolling through a business parking lot and eventually stopping in a neighborhood park where it got stuck.

"Like, oh my god, I didn't know it was going to go that far," Sparkes said.

City officials said the pumpkin broke free from a Halloween display promoting the Peoria Monster Bash at the Peoria Sports Complex. Officials said strong winds were to blame for the pumpkin getting loose.

But employees at Big AZ Promotions said the pumpkin's windy accomplice must have been strong indeed.

"This is so heavy, and the straps it just like ripped the rings out, went rolling down the streets," said Shayne Smith, also with Big AZ Promotions.

No one was injured in the great pumpkin escape, but it did damage street lights, which have been repaired.

The employees now have to repair the pumpkin. It had to be deflated in order to be removed from the park.