Driver Freed After 9 Hours in Car That Plunged 100 Feet Into Creek
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A San Juan Capistrano man was rescued after a 100-foot plunge into a creek trapped him in his car -- which landed nose-first -- for nine hours, officials said Monday.
Orange County Sheriff’s Department personnel and paramedics took David Marin Mungia, 30, out of a dry part of Trabuco Creek after a passerby reported seeing the car about 6:30 a.m. Monday, said Jim Amormino, spokesman for the Sheriff’s Department.
Mungia’s 1987 Honda Accord had veered into the creek, about a quarter-mile north of Junipero Serra Road, after hitting a tree Sunday night, he said.
A tow truck used a 100-foot-long cable to reposition the car so rescuers could extract Mungia.
The mangled car was then lifted to the roadway.
Mungia was taken to Mission Hospital in Mission Viejo with hypothermia, a broken arm and cuts on his face.
“He should consider himself a very lucky man,” Amormino said.
The cause of the accident is under investigation, Amormino said.
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