A woman who police say intentionally drove her vehicle into the Columbia River on Thursday was aided by two men who are being hailed as good Samaritans.
Police and medical personnel were called to 801 S.E. Marine Park Way in Vancouver just after 12:45 p.m. on a report of a vehicle sinking into the water.
When they arrived, they found a woman on shore, conscious and alert after two men pulled her out of the water.
Scott Landrigan, 56, of Woodland was sitting in his parked car near the boat launch eating lunch when he saw a floating vehicle. He ran over to the scene and was met by Greg Goad, a 48-year-old Ridgefield man who had been running steps in the area on his lunch break. The two men ran to the car. Goad pulled the hood of the car closer to the dock and Landrigan tried to pull the woman out.
“I grabbed her by the neck and said, ‘You got to get the (expletive) out of here,’ ” Landrigan said. “I was pulling with everything I had on her coat.”
The woman, described as in her 30s or 40s, kept her hands grasped tightly to the steering wheel.
“She rolled the window up,” Landrigan said. “She had this glazed look on her face.”
The car disappeared into the murky water, and the two men waited for about a minute and a half before the woman resurfaced.
“This was intentional as far as we know,” Vancouver police Sgt. Mark Blaisdell said. “I think at some point she decided it wasn’t a good idea.”
Blaisdell said that the woman was not cooperative with police. The woman, who was violently shaking while she was treated at the scene, was taken to an area hospital for a mental health evaluation, Vancouver police spokeswoman Kim Kapp said.
“I felt pure panic,” Goad said. “I just hope she’s OK. We were beside ourselves when she went under.”
A regional dive team and a tow truck responded to the scene to pull the car from the water.
