All Thankful For Low Tide
LOS ANGELES COUNTY FIREFIGHTERS faced a triple challenge Saturday morning after a county sheriff's cruiser was rear-ended by a drunk driver and knocked over a cliff onto an ocean beach 30 feet below.
The two deputies in the car were both trapped and injured as the front end of the car became wedged in the sand. The FD was required to set up a high-angle rescue operation along with a vehicle extrication and a medical emergency for the deputies.
The officers were on a routine patrol at 1 am when a 44-yr.-old driver operating a BMW rear-ended the cruiser with enough force to knock it off the road where it dropped down the beachfront cliff. Fortunately the car landed on its wheels preventing the probable drowning of the deputies who were both injured and trapped inside with the doors jammed from the impact.
KNBC-TV image
As the firefighters were using extrication tools to remove the doors and get to the officers, another crew was setting up a rope rigging to lift the injured up to street level.
NBC posted this video from RMG News showing the extrication:
View more videos at: http://nbclosangeles.com.
The drunk driver was arrested on suspicion of felony drunk driving and is being held on $100,000 bond. The sheriff's office is crediting the deputies' seat-belt use for keeping them from more advanced injuries.
NBC-TV has the STORY.
KTLA-TV has MORE.
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