An early-morning car crash along the Sacramento River triggered a search for a man who turned out to be miles away from the scene, according to the California Highway Patrol.
It all began at about 1:20 a.m. Monday when 46-year-old Gerardo Estrada Moreno of San Jose fell asleep at the wheel of his 1994 BMW, which was traveling northbound on South River Road near Clarksburg, CHP Officer Bryan Konvalin said. The car ran down an embankment and into the river, where Moreno woke up as the vehicle began to fill with water.
Moreno got himself out of the car and made his way to the riverbank, telling responding officers that his brother “was possibly in the BMW,” Konvalin said. No one else was in the car or in the area, prompting officers to launch a search for the missing passenger.
Officers eventually made contact with Moreno’s brother, who was safe and sound in San Jose, Konvalin said. The search was called off, and Moreno was taken to Kaiser Hospital in South Sacramento for treatment of a head injury and pain to his left arm.