DUI Driver Crashes Into Pond, Swims to Safety: Police

MANHATTAN, IL - A drunk driver drove his car into a pond late Friday night in Manhattan and was able to swim to shore, Will County Sheriff's police said.

Sheriff's deputies were called to the pond near Schoolhouse Road and Smith Road around 10 p.m. on March 10, according to a crash report on the incident. When they arrived they spoke to the driver, John J. Sanders, 38, of Bourbonnais, who said he was headed southbound in his 2001 Chevy Silverado on Schoolhouse and while attempting to stop at a stop sign his vehicle skidded off the road and into the water.

Sanders told authorities he was able to exit the vehicle after it went into the water and swam to shore. He was taken to Silver Cross Hospital in New Lenox, where he was treated and released before being charged with DUI, failure to obey stop sign, failure to reduce speed and operating an uninsured motor vehicle.

Police said an initial investigation showed no skid marks on the roadway and guardrail and "numerous trees to be damaged from where the vehicle left the road."