1 dead after car drives off Santa Cruz wharf

1 dead after car drives off Santa Cruz wharf

One person was extricated from inside the submerged car and was taken to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

SANTA CRUZ, Calif. - A driver died after their vehicle careened off of the Santa Cruz Municipal Wharf into the ocean Sunday morning.

The Santa Cruz Fire Department reported that the vehicle drove off the side of the wharf about 9:45 a.m. Lifeguards were on the scene within minutes. 

"When they all got there, they all started jumping off the wharf, like obviously what they needed to do. I saw that. It was pretty intense," said Jimena Flores, who works at Marini's Candies, just feet away from the scene.
 

(Jaden Schaul)

Images from the scene showed a portion of railing broken off the side of the dock and leading into the waters below.

After about 10 minutes, crews found the van on its roof in about 30 feet of water. The windows were intact, and the adult inside was unconscious, according to firefighters. 

The SCFD said that crews had to break the glass in order to extricate the person from the submerged car. The person was taken to a hospital, where they were pronounced dead.

(Jaden Schaul)

The victim's name was not released. No other victims were believed to have been involved. A dog was rescued from the water and brought to animal control, and is expected to be okay. 

Authorities enlisted the help of a heavy-duty tow truck to lift the vehicle – a white Toyota Sienna minivan – from the ocean. Images taken while the minivan was being lifted showed heavy damage to the vehicle's front end and roof, with airbags deployed and the windshield and several side windows shattered.

(Jaden Schaul)

The wharf was temporarily closed to vehicles as authorities worked to secure the area.

Santa Cruz Police are now picking up the investigation, to figure out exactly how this happened. 

"All details of the vehicle and the chain of events to it going off the wharf are under investigation with Santa Cruz PD," said Battalion Chief Josh Coleman with the Santa Cruz Fire Department. 

The cause of the crash was not immediately known.