Fresno police officers rescue man from car in central Fresno canal

Two Fresno police officers jumped into a water-filled canal to save a man after his vehicle crashed in central Fresno on Saturday.

Greg Mekel, a California Highway Patrol officer, said that a man in his late 50s careened his Toyota Camry into the canal off of the southbound Highway 41 off-ramp at McKinley Avenue around 2:20 p.m. There were no other vehicles involved and only an off-ramp sign was damaged.

Two officers from the Fresno Police Department’s Homeless Task Force, Jeremy Kuckenbaker and Peter Ressler, saw the crash as they were contacting the homeless near the intersection. They immediately entered the canal toward the partially submerged Camry. The officers were assisted by a passerby who had a ladder on his pickup that was used by the officers to climb into and out of the canal, police said.

Mekel said the driver was able to state information like his date of birth and where he lived, but wasn’t able to remember how he crashed.

The driver suffered a fractured right forearm and was transported to Community Regional Medical Center for treatment.

The accident is under investigation.

This story was originally published December 5, 2015 at 5:36 PM with the headline "Fresno police officers rescue man from car in central Fresno canal."