Granger man rescued from sinking car faces drunken-driving citation

Sunnyside police rescued a man from a car sinking in an irrigation canal, and Yakima County sheriff’s deputies then cited him on suspicion of drunken driving Monday.

Deputies and Sunnyside police went to the 500 block of Snipes Canal Road around 1 p.m. for a report of a driver who had been driving erratically and crashed into the canal, sheriff’s spokesman Casey Schilperoort said. As deputies were responding, they were told the vehicle was sinking and the driver was trapped inside.

A Sunnyside police officer broke out the rear window on the car and, with the help of the fire department, rescued the driver, whom Schilperoort identified as 23-year-old Jose Saragos-Cruz.

After his rescue, Saragos-Cruz was cited on suspicion of driving under the influence, Schilperoort said, and was released.