Thieves Drive BMW Into Lake, More Cars Found Underwater
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) – Authorities found numerous cars in a St. Paul lake Tuesday morning after a caller reported that car, later identified as a stolen BMW sedan, had been driven into the lake by two people.
The Ramsey County Sheriff's Office said the cars were found in Loeb Lake, which is located in Marydale Park, after a witness called 911 shortly after 6 a.m. The caller reported that two people exited the car and fled the scene.
St. Paul police and firefighters initially responded and tried to find the car by launching a small boat on to the water. However, the lake proved too weedy. Authorities then called the Ramsey County Sheriff's Office Water Patrol, which deployed a remote-controlled underwater camera and sonar unit into the lake.
Almost immediately, the search unit found a car buried in silt at the lake's bottom. But a visual inspection revealed that the car was an older one. Thus the search continued for the car which had just been dumped.
Not long after finding the first car, the search unit found another car a short distance away, the sheriff's office said. A visual inspection showed that it was a stolen BMW sedan, which the caller had seen heading into the lake.
The sheriff's office said a dive team helped pull the car from the lake. But when a diver went to attach a cable to the BMW, he discovered another car next to the BMW at the lake's bottom. The diver marked that other car, which will be recovered in the coming days.
Authorities pulled the BMW out with a tow truck, and St. Paul police confirmed that it had had been reported stolen at 5:47 a.m. that day. They searched the BMW and found no bodies inside, the sheriff's office said.
St. Paul Police are investigating the car theft.
Authorities are not sure how many cars are in the lake or if they were stolen. Due to how deep the cars are in the mud, license plates are not visible.
According to the city of St. Paul's website, Loeb Lake and the area around it "had been used as a dumping ground for at least a half century." The lake is currently designated as a children's fishing pond.
