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Summit County police blotter: Driver winds up in Snake River, cited for ‘unsafe backing’

Editor’s note: The police blotter is written from incident reports provided by local police departments and the Summit County Sheriff’s Office. All individuals named are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

River backing



A woman allegedly told authorities she was on the phone with her boyfriend when she backed her car into the Snake River in the Keystone area July 1.

She was reportedly leaving a friend’s house and using her vehicle’s backup camera to drive out of the apartment complex in reverse, and “before she knew it, she had backed off the roadway and into the river,” according to a report from the Summit County Sheriff’s Office.



The woman reportedly told authorities the air bags deployed when the car hit the water, but that she was uninjured in the accident and was able to crawl out of the vehicle,

The report states she called the friend whose home she had just left to ask for help. She told authorities she was cold and had gone inside to take a hot shower and warm up, according to the report.

When law enforcement arrived, the car was partially submerged in the river.

The woman allegedly admitted she had had a few drinks much earlier in the day, but said it had not impaired her ability to drive. According to the report, she passed a voluntary roadside sobriety test.

She was cited for unsafe backing.

Caught snooping

A fight broke out in a parking lot near Keystone in the early morning hours of July 7, after a local resident reportedly saw another man pulling car door handles and rummaging through unlocked vehicles.

Authorities received reports that one man was dragged from a car and that a number of individuals were involved in a fight, according to a Sheriff’s Office report.

When deputies arrived on scene they saw two men engaged in a fistfight that they were later told was related to one of the men trespassing in several vehicles in the area.

A witness, who called to report the incident, told authorities he and his wife had seen a man peering through windows and attempting to open car doors, according to the report. Initially, the witness thought the man was trying to get into his own car, but then saw him trying the doors on other vehicles, finally with some success. He reportedly saw the man get into a smaller vehicle and begin rummaging around inside, according to the report.

The witness then contacted some friends and confronted the man in the parking lot, the report said.

Authorities reportedly found several small items, including a small Buddha figurine, a Safeway card,a $5 bill and a lighter in a bag in the suspect’s possession, the report said.

He was charged with several counts of trespassing.


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