By Mark Price
The Herald-Sun
CHARLOTTE, N.C. — Dozens of snow-related crashes were reported in Charlotte Saturday, and among the more unusual was one involving a pickup that ended up largely submerged in a neighborhood retention pond.
The crash happened just after 7:30 p.m. Saturday, in a subdivision near the intersection of Jerimoth and Cuddington drives in east Charlotte.
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“Fire communications received calls reporting a pickup truck had lost control, left the roadway, and entered a retention pond. Callers advised that the driver had exited the cab as it took on water and was standing in the bed of the truck,” the fire department reported on social media.
Sure enough, photos show firefighters arrived to see a sunken pickup with the headlines still on, and the driver standing atop a truck bed cover in the dark.
A fire department ladder truck was summoned to keep a light on the driver as firefighters stood in heavy snow, trying to inflate a life raft, photos show.
“Firefighters made contact with the driver and successfully freed the patient at approximately 8:25 p.m.,” officials said. “The patient was treated on scene. No additional injuries were reported.”
The driver’s identity and details of the injuries was not released.
The crash happened at the height of a snowstorm that resulted in 6 to 12 inches of snow falling in Charlotte, and higher accumulations north of the city, the National Weather Service says.
Medic Ambulance reports it responded to 52 crashes Saturday during the storm.
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