Investigators believe a car traveling south on Route 259 was intentionally driven over the curb between the utility pole on the right and the stairs on the left (top right photo) and landed in the canal. A large crowd of people watched the effort to locate and remove the car Wednesday, morning, July 17. Monroe County Sheriff’s Department scuba squad members suited up with water search gear to find a car in the Erie Canal last Wednesday. Spencerport emergency crews received the call for help at the Spencerport lift bridge on Route 259 around 10 p.m.Tuesday, July 17. A passerby was able to rescue the male driver of the vehicle who was transported to an area hospital. According to Brian Krywy of the Spencerport Volunteer Fire Department (SFD), the driver of the car was disoriented and gave conflicting information, so (SFD) had a boat in the water and firefighters in rescue suits trying to locate additional victims and the car immediately after the accident. After it was determined that the probability of a person being in the car was low based on information provided by the driver, the sheriff’s scuba squad was called in to locate the car. They got under way about 8:30 a.m. Wednesday. The car was removed from the water around 1:30 p.m. Low visibility in the canal complicated the search. Photographs by Walter Horylev. © July 22, 2007 - Westside News Inc. |
