ROSEVILLE (CBS13) ― A Roseville man escaped his crushed vehicle that was trapped underwater by an unusual method: gunfire.
Authorities said the 28-year-old man was driving in his station wagon on Industrial Avenue on the bridge over Pleasant Grove Creek when a hands-free cell phone device activated, startling him and causing the vehicle to veer into the chilly waters just before 9:00 a.m. Sunday.
The man, employed as an armed security officer at Thunder Valley Casino, found himself trapped inside his car about six to eight feet below the surface in the 50-degree water.
The Roseville Fire Department said the man used his handgun to shoot out his vehicle window, giving himself an opportunity to escape and swim to safety.
The man flagged down a passing vehicle and was treated for minor injuries by emergency crews.
If he wasn’t an armed security guard and would’ve been Joe Citizen how many charges would he be facing in CA?
I wonder if he suffered any hearing loss, temp or perm. Your right though, I’m sure he would of gotten in some kind of trouble having a loaded firearm in his vehicle had he been an average joe.
Pistol works well.
So does any object with a hard and sharp point that can break the surface tension of tempered glass. I don’t know if you could do it with a key sticking out of a fist, you may break your knuckles punching the glass hard enough to get the key to break the surface coating.
There are also those little emergency window breakers you can buy, but I would forget it the trunk or something.
My first thought when I heard this headline was: if this were not a “gun story” it wouldn’t be a headline at all. :rolleyes: More power to him for escaping with his life. I personally would prefer to not have to deal with the possible adverse side-effects… buy hey, whatever works.
If I plunk my butt in a vehicle’s seat, I always have one of these with me. It’s a seatbelt cutter and window breaker in a keychain sized package:
Several people have stated similar things in this thread. Out of curiousity, would you be able to utilize this type of tool under water? Would you have enough momentum to shatter the window using a “window breaker” or something similar? I might even see this being a problem with a spring loaded tool, water would definitely slow velocity. Something to consider and possibly something to test if it hasn’t already.
Water doesn’t immediately flood a vehicle if the windows are up. There is enough time to break the glass if needed. It can be a bit more difficult due to the pressure exerted onto the glass by the water on the outside. Kicking the glass out is a good option. Small punches may be dropped and lost in the vehicle. Water activated lights are also a good idea.
Vehicles don’t always slide nicely into the water. You may end up on the side or upside down. If you impacted something on the bridge before going off it, your situation will obviously be a lot worse.
Make sure you remove and stow the seat belt before exiting. It may entangle you. Having a knife is obviously a great idea.
Without trying to sound like a Devil’s advocate or what if’ing this to death… If you combine the 2 bolded phrases, albeit the opposite of the first one, this situation gets a lot more tricky. Possibly losing consciousness, or just ringing your bell, and waking up when the vehicle is almost completely flooded would make exiting the vehicle a lot more difficult. In general I was asking about more of a worse case scenario, like being inverted and unaware of your surroundings, than a simple break the window scenario. I guess I should’ve clarified my initial questions.
If you believe being a security guard buys you ANYTHING when it comes to avoiding or lessening prosecution, you’re smoking something that can’t be bought at the check out line.
Regardless of what I smoke you’re obviously not familiar with the gun laws in California in respect to who can transport and carry firearms on a daily basis without going to jail.
Four legs good, two legs bad.
All animals are equal, but some animals are more equal than others.
There is always the neccessity defense. Plus, who knows whether the weapon was locked in a container and separate from the ammunition, until said citizen retrieved it, loaded the weapon and then used it to exit the vehicle? Unless, of course, you told the police that you were carrying loaded and your own mouth gets you a go to jail pass. California has screwed up guns laws, yes. We also have kick-butt self-defense laws and usually, a smattering of common sense among DA’s and police agencies.
I know this would not get prosecuted in my jurisdiction, even for a non-security guard, unless the driver was a felon in possession, etc.
For my part, I chose to cut down on other things to make room for this. I view the likelihood of using this as much higher than most other things I carry. I’ve been in a couple of bad accidents and zero gunfights, so I may evaluate that risk in a skewed way. Since I keep it on my keychain, I removed other things from the keychain. That being said, it is about 3" long x 1 1/4" wide x 5/8" thick. That Amazon link has a few other good pictures to give an idea of the size. It’s basically like having another keyfob with me.
IMO, it’s not that big (bulky is probably a better word) when compared next to other things most of us keep in our pockets that might save a life (knife, flashlight, reload, etc). That’s obviously a personal decision, though. It could also be placed right in the console or dash and not take up much room. Another option is the full-sized LifeHammer under the seat. I decided that might be harder to reach in case of an accident.
I have a Lifehammer in the truck now. A good buddy of mine went missing for two days until someone noticed part of his car sticking out of the water in a flooded area beside a road. He had for some reason slid off the road, and drowned in his damn car. We all spend thousands to protect our lives and the lives of our loved ones. These tools are a drop in the bucket compared to what we spend on firearms, and it’s something we should all have.
The tools are kept in a secure location where they can be reached if I’m in the driver or passenger seat. On the big ring is a punch, a seatbelt cutter, and some lock pullers. The whole kit was 20 bucks. The spring loaded punch requires one hand and the ability to apply moderate force into the window. Put tip on glass…push forward…glass shatters. Exit.
The tools themselves are easy to use. All I need is one free hand. If I don’t have one free hand odds are that getting out the window isn’t my top worry anyway.
I like the hammer option. I can leave it in my door or something so I don’t have to carry it around all the time. I think i’ll be getting them for my gf and I.
