Officers rescue woman from SUV sinking in gator-infested lake
Quick-thinking officers came to the rescue of a woman stuck inside an SUV that was rapidly sinking in a lake in Sugar Land, Texas, over the weekend. The tense moment was caught on video by a body camera worn by one of the officers. The lake where the accident took place is known to be swarming with alligators and snakes.
Around 6:30 a.m. local time Saturday, witnesses called 911 to report that the SUV was in the lake. Police said it had been "traveling at a high rate of speed, jumped a curb" and accelerated off an embankment landing "several hundred feet offshore."
The Sugar Land Police Department posted the bodycam footage to its Facebook page and wrote that patrol units arrived within minutes of the accident. Police said three officers immediately jumped into action. One of them smashed out a back window with a baton and pulled the woman to safety.
Police said the vehicle sank below the surface shortly after the woman was rescued.
The driver said she "fell asleep before losing control of her vehicle" and had no injuries. One officer was treated for minor cuts.
Watch the entire rescue in the video player at the top of this page or click here.