Jenner Sea Store Manager Bravely Tried Rescuing Man From Truck In Russian River

The Sonoma County coroner’s office has identified the driver who died when his truck crashed and overturned in the Russian River near Jenner Thursday night as 28-year-old Devin Cooper of Cazadero.

The solo-vehicle crash happened around 7:45 p.m. near the Jenner Sea Store at 10438 state Highway 1.

The store’s manager, Robert McShea, 50, of Jenner, said he was in the doorway of his mini-mart store when he heard a northbound vehicle’s tires skidding and saw headlights.

The vehicle, a Ford truck, hit an embankment and rolled over in the air before landing upside down in 7-8 feet of water, McShea said.

McShea said he went under the murky water with a flashlight several times over 10 minutes to try to pull the driver out of the truck.

He said he was trying to smash the truck’s windows with rocks and finally found the open driver’s window.

“I reached inside and started pulling jackets out. I kept trying to reach him but he was over on the passenger side of the truck,” McShea said.

There were groceries and unopened beer in the truck, McShea said.

State Parks rangers and CHP officers who were on the scene said the driver probably already drowned because the truck had been under water for 10 minutes, McShea said.

Since he was already wet, McShea said he volunteered to hook a cable onto an axle on the truck so it could be towed out of the water.

-Bay City News

-Images via Jenner Sea Store on Facebook and Yelp