Sitka police are investigating an accident over the weekend that landed a vehicle and its four occupants in the water at Eliason Harbor.
Dispatch received a call at about 12:30 p.m. on Sunday (5-30-22) that a vehicle was in the water. One ambulance and a fire engine responded.
Sitka police spokesperson Serena Wild says that the driver became confused and stepped on the gas instead of the brake when parking the van. The vehicle jumped the concrete parking block, startling the driver further, who stepped on the gas again, putting the van into the ocean.
The van was pulled from the water by a tow truck. Neither the driver or his three passengers were injured.
The previous day – Saturday (5-29-22) – fire department personnel responded to a report of boaters in distress. Spokesperson Chris Turner says that the department received the call shortly before 1 p.m. that a rowboat and its occupants were in need of assistance in Silver Bay. The Emergency Response Vessel traveled to the area, located the rowboat, and towed it safely back to shore in Herring Cove.
