Key West Police rescue man from sinking car

Key West Police Department officers arrested a man, who would eventually face drunken driving charges, after his car ran off the road at Simonton Beach and began floating with the current.

Early Sunday, April 28, Key West police officers acted quickly after a car ran off the road and began to drift, according to police spokeswoman Alyson Crean. Without hesitation, three officers jumped into the water, confirming there was a sole male subject inside the vehicle and working quickly to free him, Crean said.

The driver, Michael Lee Grimes, 41, who is an enlisted U.S. Navy personnel, told officers he was unfamiliar with the area and had been following another car. When the other car turned, Grimes continued straight into the water. The car began to float away with the current, trapping Grimes inside the black Dodge Challenger, Crean said.

The officers saw the car was beginning to fill with water, so they broke the window, helped Grimes out of the vehicle and brought him to land, according to Crean.

Key West Fire and Rescue responded and confirmed Grimes sustained minor injuries, although he refused medical assistance. The Fire Department put additional divers in the water to further confirm there were no other people in the sinking car, which had floated a good distance from where it entered the water, Crean said. The vehicle was tied off to keep it from floating into the Key West Harbor.

“It was fortunate that one of the first officers on scene was a former Special Forces Dive School Training Officer,” Police Chief Sean Brandenburg said. “Teamwork is vital in a situation that could have been life-threatening.”

During the crash investigation, officers detected a smell of alcohol and conducted a field sobriety test, Crean said. As a result, Grimes, was charged with DUI and transported to the Monroe County Detention Center but was later released.