Man shoots window to escape submerged car

Quick-thinking driver extricated himself after vehicle plunges into a creek

Roseville, Calif.- At 9:01 a.m. this morning, Roseville Fire Department and Police Department units responded to a vehicle in the creek by Industrial Avenue, near the Bill Santucchi Justice Center.

Roseville Police officers determined that the driver, a 28-year-old male from Roseville, had been driving  his 2005 Ford Focus station wagon northbound on Industrial Avenue and was on a bridge over Pleasant Grove Creek when his hands-free cell phone device activated, startling him. He veered, and his vehicle went through the guardrail and into the creek, where it was submerged in 50-degree water.

The driver, an armed security officer employed at Thunder Valley Casino, used his handgun to shoot out his vehicle window, extricated himself from the vehicle and the creek, and then flagged down a passerby for assistance.   He suffered what appeared to be minor injuries, and was transported by ambulance to Sutter Roseville Medical Center.

Industrial Avenue was closed for about three and a half hours between Tinker Road and Allentown Drive while crews worked to tow the vehicle out of the creek.  The roadway reopened at about 12:30 p.m.