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Truck in river believed stolen |
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December 29, 2011, updated 10:40 p.m. |
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The Boundary
County Sheriff's rescue boat provides
light and support for four divers who
responded after a truck was reported in
the Kootenai River near the Boundary
County Fairgrounds Thursday evening. |
At 6:39 p.m., a northside resident called the
Sheriffs Office to report a red pickup floating
in the Kootenai River, headlights still shining.
At 6:53 p.m., a patron at the Panhandle
Restaurant called to report her red pickup
stolen.
Police believe, though it hasn't yet been
confirmed, that the pickup in the river and the
one reported missing are the same as divers,
working with Jacob's Towing, are still working
to bring the pickup to shore from where it sank
about 50 feet from shore in about 10-feet of
water.
Bonners Ferry Police Officer John Lunde was
first to arrive at the river, and was able to
shine a flashlight into the cab before it
completely submerged. He didn't see anyone
inside struggling to get out, but it wasn't
until divers from the Sheriffs Office and Search
and Dive Rescue made their first dive on the rig
shortly after 8 p.m. that it was confirmed the
truck was unoccupied.
Lunde and Sheriffs deputies who arrived at
nearly the same time shut down Riverside Street
by the fairgrounds, and soon the area was filled
with ambulance personnel, Bonners Ferry Fire
Department crews, Boundary Search and Dive
Rescue and others.
As of the time of this writing, crews have
almost brought the pickup to shore, where it
will be identified and, if it does prove to be
the stolen vehicle, taken into impoundment for
evidence as the City Police Department launches
its investigation.
At present, it's not known for certain where the
pickup entered the water.
According to Lunde, this is at least the sixth
vehicle to have been stolen in Bonners Ferry
this year.
"You hear the same story every time, 'this is
Bonners Ferry, this kind of thing doesn't happen
here,'" he said. Unfortunately, it does.
At 10:36 p.m., the truck was recovered from the
river, with no traces of gas or oil spill into
the water, and divers and Sheriffs rescue boat
crews cleared the scene. All emergency crews
were released and Riverside Road was reopened.
The vehicle was confirmed to have been the one
reported stolen. |
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