A 19-year-old Newark man, who was allegedly drunk, drove his 2000 Jeep Cherokee into a man-made pond Wednesday morning at the west side of the intersection at Fred Hudson and Cedar Neck roads, according to police.
After opening the window and fleeing the car — which sunk to the bottom of the pond — just before 6 a.m., Kyle E. Bailey and an unidentified passenger reportedly fled on foot. They were located in front of a friend’s house in Bethany Beach about two hours later, Delaware State Police spokesman Jeff Oldham said.
State police arrested Bailey and charged him with DUI, leaving the scene of a property damage accident and failure to report a property damage accident, Oldham said.
A nearby resident witnessed the happenings at the intersection and reported the incident just before 6 a.m., according to Ocean View Police Chief Ken McLaughlin, whose officers responded first.
Bailey was allegedly driving his car westbound from Route 1 on Fred Hudson when he approached the intersection. According to Delaware State Police, he tried to stop but failed to do so, running through the intersection, through a fence and into the pond.
The witness told police that the car’s two occupants fled the scene after rolling down the window and escaping the submerging car. Responding officers stayed with the car rather than chasing the suspects, McLaughlin said, because the witness thought there was someone else in the vehicle.
No one else was found in the car. Millville, Selbyville and Ocean City fire company diving teams assisted in the operation. One of the divers read the license plate of the submerged car and it was traced to an upstate location.
After police contacted Bailey’s family members, his family located him at his friend’s house in Bethany and told him to wait outside for the police, whom they directed to the location, according to police.
Upon arrival to the friend’s house, Bailey turned himself into police, Oldham said. The unidentified passenger was not charged.
“According to my guys, they appeared to be highly intoxicated,” McLaughlin said of the two reportedly involved in the accident. “It was a pretty big event.”