Woman Crashes Car, Jumps Into Ohio River In Moon Twp. To Elude Capture
MOON TOWNSHIP (KDKA) -- A woman was hospitalized Tuesday afternoon after crashing her car and jumping into the Ohio River in Moon Township to try and elude police.
The incident happened just after 1:30 p.m. and the woman was in the water for about 40 minutes before a towboat crew pulled her out.
Police say the 35-year-old woman was driving on Route 51 near the Sewickley Bridge when she struck the median. After the crash, she took off. First, officials say she jumped into a man's car, and when he wouldn't take her anywhere, she headed toward the water.
Officers tried to stop her, but she jumped in. Multiple police agencies were called in to help, including the U.S. Coast Guard.
"Before the officers arrived, it was reported to us there was a single-vehicle crash and that a woman jumped out of that single-vehicle crash and jumped into another person's car, and demanded that he drive her somewhere," Moon Township Police Chief Leo McCarthy. "He refused, so she jumped out of car, jumped over median, ran across a four-lane highway, went over very steep embankment, down towards railroad tracks towards the Ohio River."
Police alerted crews over at the nearby Dashields Lock and Dam and communicated with a towboat in the water. At that point, police say the woman was almost to the Sewickley side.
Officials say a crew on the Mary Rose towboat spotted her and she tried to swim away, but two crew members jumped in and forcibly rescued her. Jonathan Murphy was one of those crew members.
"Eventually, I was like, we need to do something and the captain was like, 'Yes, tie off, take the boat over and we threw the life ring a couple times and she didn't wanna get," said Murphy. "So, I did what I thought was the best thing to do."
But once Murphy got in the water, he faced a struggle.
"I was in that bad boy, she fought me like no other. She was so tired by the time we got to her, she was just barely keeping her head above water," said Murphy. "She was delirious; she was lost, had no clue where she was."
The woman was taken to a Pittsburgh hospital to be treated. There's been no word on her condition.
Murphy says he's just happy she's alive.
"She was in water almost 40 minutes. I was in there for 10 and that was enough. It was cold. I'm glad she's alive," he said.
It remains unclear why she fled from police. Authorities say she will face charges of fleeing from police.
Police say in the process of trying to rescue the woman, one of their SUV got stuck near the railroad tracks. Railroad traffic was shut down for about two hours while police brought in a military Humvee to pull the SUV and clear the scene.
"When you do things like this young woman did today, they just don't realize all the resources that come to bear," said Chief McCarthy.
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