Car removed from lake
Coeur d'Alene Press | UPDATED 8 years, 9 months AGO
LOREN BENOIT/Press A diver attaches cables to an Audi to remove the car from Lake Coeur d’Alene at the Third Street docks Wednesday morning. No one was found inside the vehicle.
LOREN BENOIT/Press Emergency personnel respond to a scene of a submerged car at Coeur d’Alene’s Third Street Docks Wednesday morning. No one was found inside the vehicle. The owner has been identified and police are in the process of contacting that person. Police are reviewing surveillance video.
By BRIAN WALKER
Staff Writer
COEUR d'ALENE — Chris Kirk was headed to class Wednesday morning when he was diverted by a wave of emergency response vehicles rushing to a scene.
When the North Idaho College student from Coeur d'Alene turned on the police scanner, he learned a car was found submerged in Lake Coeur d'Alene at the Third Street docks.
"When I saw all the cops and fire trucks flying by, I had to check it out," said Kirk, who was among about 25 bystanders who had a birds-eye view of responders pulling the unoccupied newer black Audi from the water. "It's a nice car, but I think it's done for."
Casey W. Samuels, 39, Coeur d'Alene, the car's owner, was cited for reckless driving and leaving the scene of an accident.
"He remembers driving," Coeur d'Alene Police Det. Jared Reneau said. "He admitted to driving the car when it went into the lake. He's just not clear on why he went into the lake."
Samuels told police that he had not been drinking.
Police reviewed surveillance video from The Coeur d'Alene Resort that showed the car being driven forward into the lake between 1 and 2 a.m., Reneau said. He said it also showed a man coming out of the water.
The car was spotted in the lake by a citizen around 8:45 a.m. It was removed from the lake around 10 a.m.
"A guy was out looking for for his stolen cellphone," Coeur d'Alene police Sgt. Scott TenEyck said of the man who reported the car in the water. "His cellphone pinged to this area and, when he looked down, he saw the car in the water."
Rescuers broke the sunroof and back window of the car during the recovery effort to ensure no one was inside.
When police responded, there were no bubbles in the water, indicating the car had been there for several hours.