Irregular News for 05.14.07
San Antonio, TX -- The suspected car thief got caught — but at the end of the three-hour ordeal that left him dangling about 30 feet in the air, he was considered a pretty lucky man.
In a scene straight out of a movie, the 18-year-old sat pinned in the stolen SUV as it hung between the Interstate 35 North exit ramp and Interstate 37.
Police said the man had taken the exit ramp too fast, somehow lost control, and skidded along the railing much like a skateboarder.
Using several ladders, chains and the Jaws of Life, firefighters worked carefully to saw off the SUV's door and extract the teenager, whose legs were trapped underneath the front of the vehicle.
The impact of the crash had thrown his upper body into the backseat and he hung at a 90-degree angle as dozens of amazed onlookers watched from below.
"It looked pretty spectacular," said District Chief Tommy Thompson. "I'm impressed."
Paramedics monitored the man's condition from the overpass, hooking him up to a drip and strapping a yellow helmet on to his head.
He remained pretty calm throughout, Thompson said, although he complained of pain to his foot and later seemed to suffer some heat exhaustion.
Emergency personnel work to free an 18-year-old.
The rescue was especially precarious because firefighters themselves were balancing on ladders in mid-air as they worked to essentially cut the man out from the vehicle.
"They basically took that car apart," Thompson said. "But it seemed like no matter how much they took it apart, they couldn't get his foot out."
Hours later, they finally pulled him out of the passenger door and he was taken to a local hospital where he is expected to be fine.
"He's extremely lucky," Thompson said.
Police said they intend to pursue automobile theft charges.
Police also said the teenager, who is from Kansas City, Mo., had been living on the beach in Corpus Christi for a while and had stolen the SUV there Friday morning.
A Live Oak County sheriff's deputy who was off-duty and following a bus of baseball players to San Antonio spotted the man somewhere between Bexar County and Live Oak County.
"Something didn't look quite right," San Antonio Police Sgt. Robert Farley said.
The deputy ran the SUV's license plate and it came up stolen. But he was already outside of his jurisdiction and so radioed Bexar County dispatchers for support, Farley said, while keeping a close watch on the SUV.
The driver seemed to play a "cat and mouse game" with the deputy, at times escalating to speeds of 80 mph before slowing down next to the deputy.
He either decided to finally lose the deputy or just took the turn too fast, Farley said, when he crashed the SUV around 4:30 p.m.
"I don't have any idea how he's still alive," Farley said.
Parts of the SUV still lay scattered beneath the freeways and the guardrail was bent in as rescuers worked on pulling the car onto the freeway using metal chains.
Onlookers who had gathered watched the spectacle in awe, many snapping photographs and some speculating on what it meant.
"I think God told him right there that you have to change," said Alex Sabater, 16, as he stood with his family. "I would have been praying the whole time."
His mother left the morality lessons for another day but couldn't hide her admiration for the rescue team.
"It was awesome," said Angelita Benites. "They did a really good job."
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