Good Samaritan Helps Deputies Find 2 Women Who Crashed Into Icy Creek In Colorado

Deputies in Colorado rescued two women who had crashed into an icy ditch last month after a good Samaritan helped them find the wreck in the dark.

The Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office said dispatch received a 911 call at around 1 a.m. on Feb. 22 in which the caller only repeated the word, “please,” and did not respond to questions. The emergency SOS system showed there had been a crash somewhere on South Lima Street between East Easter Avenue and East Arapahoe Road near Centennial, a suburb south of Denver.

Deputies responded to the area and began searching with flashlights, hoping to find the scene of the crash. A good Samaritan told them he saw a black SUV pass him before crashing into a ditch, and showed them where he believed the vehicle went off the road.

Deputies searched the creek bed, which was filled with “deep snow, rocks, and heavy vegetation.” They spotted tire tracks and a trail of debris and followed them to find the SUV upside down, submerged in the water.

Body-worn camera video shows deputies wading through the frigid water, which got chest-deep at times, and breaking through ice in 22-degree temperatures to reach the vehicle. Once they got there, deputies heard someone screaming inside and responding to their calls.

Deputies forced open a rear door and pulled one woman out, and helped rescue crews move her up the embankment. South Metro Fire Rescue used the Jaws of Life to extricate the second woman.

Both women, ages 22 and 24, were transported to the hospital and “miraculously” had only minor injuries, the sheriff’s office said.

“Both were highly intoxicated,” the sheriff’s office said. The driver was charged with DUI.

“That witness was in the right place at the right time. It was late at night, there was barely anyone on the road, and the chances of these two women surviving were slim, especially being upside down submerged in frigid waters with no way to escape,” Deputy Helveston said in a statement.

“If it werent for the witness seeing the car go off the road and staying there to direct us to the crash, we never would have found it that night,” said Patrol Lt. Mike Reed. “When I first saw the vehicle, I thought there was no chance of anyone being alive with the amount of damage it had. The women were submerged in freezing water for 15 to 20 minutes with just inches of breathing room. Had we not found them at that moment, they would have succumbed to hypothermia within minutes, and this would have been a completely different outcome.