Nearby boater saves juvenile who drove into Heritage Lake

Curtis Wrecker Service retrieves a pickup truck that crashed into Heritage Lake Thursday afternoon. The teenage driver was taken to an Indianapolis hospital and the road remained closed for more than two hours.

Courtesy photo

HERITAGE LAKE — The swift actions of man on a nearby dock may have saved the life of a teen who drove a pickup truck into Heritage Lake Thursday evening.

At around 4:15 p.m., the juvenile, whom police are not identifying due to circumstances of the case, was apparently traveling at what witnesses classified as a high rate of speed through the S-curves between the Heritage Lake Marina and the Heritage Lake Dam, on the west side of the lake.

The southbound 2003 Ford F-150 crossed the northbound lane and struck the guardrail, traveling over it and barely touching the embankment before landing in the water, where it rolled onto its side.

Putnam County Sheriff’s Deputy Scott Ducker said there were no indications that the driver applied the brakes and that witnesses saw the truck traveling sideways through the air before it hit the water.

A man, whose name Ducker did not have due to the ongoing nature of the investigation, was standing on a nearby dock and witnessed the incident. He quickly got into his boat and proceeded to the spot the truck was sitting in the water.

The witness said he saw the youth struggling with the door, but it would not open due to damage from the crash.

Instead, the man in the boat broke a window with a socket wrench and pulled the youth to safety.

He was subsequently transported to an Indianapolis hospital by Operation Life.

For the emergency responder dispatched to the scene, the big challenge was retrieving the truck from the water.

Curtis Wrecker Service was called and utilized one of its large recovery vehicles to lift the truck back onto land.

Also on the scene for recovery and cleanup were the Floyd Township Fire Department and a hazardous materials team from the Greencastle Fire Department, as fluids from the truck spilled into the water.

Ducker was also joined at the scene by Deputy Brian Helmer, off-duty Deputy Jeffery Freeman and Officer Matt Biggs, who responded in his role with the Bainbridge Police Department.

The road remained closed in the area until 6:30 p.m.

Courtesy photo