Advertisement Woman in T-Rex costume who spooked horses turns self in, facing 2 charges, police say Driver of carriage suffered broken leg Share Shares Copy Link Copy

A woman wearing a dinosaur costume who spooked horses in downtown Charleston late Thursday has turned herself in to authorities, Charleston Police said. Nicole Wells, 26, surrendered to police at 9:30 a.m. Friday and is charged with disorderly conduct and wearing a mask or disguise, according to Charleston Police spokesman Charles Francis. Wells was cited and released, he said.The first word of an arrest came Friday afternoon during a news conference called by Palmetto Carriage Works.According to Charleston police incident report, police responded at 5:24 p.m. and interviewed several carriage passengers and witnesses who said a person wearing a brown Tyrannosaurus Rex costume stepped off the sidewalk near the fire hydrant at Church and Linguard Streets and began making "growling noises," which frightened the horses. That caused the horses to back up and jackknife the carriage, the report said.While attempting to control the horses, the carriage driver fell out of the carriage and his leg was caught in the front left wheel, then run over by the vehicle, the report said. Police said the carriage then struck a parked vehicle. Sturgeon said others quickly rushed into assist him in getting the horses under control."The most important to thing to me: not a scratch on the animals, and not a scratch on any of my guests," Sturgeon said.Sturgeon said he suffered a severe bruise and a broken bone in his left foot in the incident.Palmetto Carriage Works President Tommy Doyle said the carriage industry treats its animals like family and said he is concerned about what he described as a dramatic increase in attempts to disrupt or assault carriage animals in the last few weeks."There have been countless cases of verbal attacks on carriage drivers, we've had people make attempts to physically touch the horses while we're on tour, other employees have been physically assaulted, we've gone to court for protective orders, we've had people literally lie down in front of carriages," he said. "And now this latest incident we have an individual in a dinosaur costume harassing the horses, causing a reaction and injuring one of my employees." In all of the instances, Doyle said his employees have acted in the best interests of the animals and their guests. The activists, he said, have not.One of the horses, Yogi, suffered minor abrasions, according to Doyle. The horse was said to be resting afterward with his brother Boo Boo, the other stallion that was pulling the carriage. The horses were able to return to their stables unassisted, the incident report said.