A 35-year-old driver was pulled to safety yesterday after a jaw-dropping crash left his car wedged vertically inside a concrete drainage culvert off the I-35 access road near Theo Avenue on San Antonio's South Side. Witnesses say the vehicle had been doing donuts and other wild maneuvers along the frontage road before it clipped a guardrail and dropped into the culvert. Bystanders forced the door open and cut his seatbelt so medics could get him out, and he was taken to a hospital where police evaluated him for possible DWI.
Witnesses captured the run-up
Julie and her boyfriend John were near a South Side convenience store on Theo Avenue when the chaos unfolded. They recorded parts of the scene, including the car spinning in donuts, according to KENS5. The station reports the driver struck a guardrail before the vehicle wound up standing vertical in the concrete drainage culvert, and that bystanders used a knife to cut his seatbelt and free him.
A familiar stretch of highway
This slice of I-35 and its access roads has a reputation for wrecks and traffic jams. MySA recently detailed a multi-lane crash on Jan. 18 that backed traffic up to the Theo Avenue exits, and KSAT has previously reported collisions on Theo Avenue near the interstate.
Investigation ongoing
San Antonio police told the station they took the 35-year-old to a hospital and evaluated him for possible driving while intoxicated in a preliminary report, and no charges were announced immediately, according to KENS5. SAPD had not released further details as of the station's report, and investigators continue to piece together what led to the crash.
