Gresham firefighters used ropes to rescue a man from the bottom of a steep 20-foot embankment in Troutdale on Sunday morning after police say he crashed his car while driving under the influence.
Emergency dispatchers got a crash alert from the driver’s cellphone around 1 a.m. Sunday, but the line stayed silent when 911 operators tried to talk to the driver, Fred Jimenez, the Multnomah County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement.
Sheriff’s deputies were still able to find the crash site at Southeast Troutdale Road and Southeast Division Drive after dispatchers pinged the phone’s GPS, officials say. Pictures show Jimenez’ vehicle upside down in a small creek at the bottom of a steep hill.
Jimenez was yelling for help when deputies arrived, the sheriff’s office said. Jimenez was only minorly hurt, he told deputies, but couldn’t climb up.
Deputies called in firefighters from the Gresham Fire Department, who performed a high-angle rope rescue to retrieve Jimenez, the sheriff’s office said.
Emergency responders then took Jimenez to the hospital for his injuries, officials say.
Crash investigators believe that Jimenez was intoxicated at the time of the crash, and that he lost control of the car while driving through a nearby intersection.
Sheriff’s deputies have issued Jimenez a DUII citation for the crash.
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