Accused drunk driver evading police plunges into ocean with 3 in pickup, CA cops say

An accused drunken driver trying to escape a police officer drove off a Monterey wharf into the ocean with three passengers aboard, California police reported.

An officer spotted the pickup truck going the wrong way on a one-way street at 1:25 a.m. Sunday, April 7, police said in a news release.

Another officer tried to stop the truck near the Municipal Wharf, but the driver instead drove onto the wharf at a high rate of speed, police said.

As other police arrived to block exits from the wharf, the officer — thinking the truck had stopped behind a building — went to look for it, police said.

The officer heard someone yelling for help from the water as he walked to the end of the wharf and discovered four people in the ocean, police said.

He assumed they had tried to escape by jumping in the water, police said. Officers threw flotation devices to the people to await rescue.

When officers couldn’t find the pickup truck, they realized it crashed off the wharf into the ocean, police said.

Firefighters and the U.S. Coast Guard helped police rescue the driver, identified as a 21-year-old Fresno man, and three passengers.

The man faces charges of drunken driving and obstructing a police officer, police said. He was taken to a hospital to be treated for injuries from the crash.

The others were treated for minor injuries and released, police said.

Monterey is about a 120-mile drive south from San Francisco.

This story was originally published April 9, 2024 at 2:26 PM with the headline "Accused drunk driver evading police plunges into ocean with 3 in pickup, CA cops say."