Driver dangles 40 feet over canal after trying to flee cops, California police say

A stolen car entangled by a chain-link fence dangled 40-feet over a canal as the driver continued to accelerate, California police reported.

A Walnut Creek police officer shattered the driver’s side window with a bean bag round, prompting the driver to stop his attempts to flee, police said in a news release.

The bean bag round is fired from a 12-gauge shotgun and is designed to be “less lethal,” the release said.

A man and woman inside the car were detained on various charges, police said.

Police said the incident began Friday, Jan. 21, when an automated license-plate reader detected a reported stolen vehicle entering Walnut Creek in the San Francisco Bay Area.

Officers tried to stop the car in a parking lot beside a canal, but the driver bumped into a patrol car and sped toward a chain-link fence, apparently unaware of the canal beyond it, the release said.

The fencing caught the car, preventing it from plunging into the canal 30 to 40 feet below, police said. Officers found two replica Airsoft guns in the car after the incident.

This story was originally published January 23, 2022 at 12:02 PM with the headline "Driver dangles 40 feet over canal after trying to flee cops, California police say."