A man was able to escape without injury after he crashed into an icy pond in below-freezing temperatures in Gurnee early Sunday morning.
The Gurnee Police Department and Gurnee Fire Department responded around 3:15 a.m. Sunday to a pond located at the northeast corner of Lawson Boulevard and Pauly Drive in Gurnee for a water rescue.
Police officers and firefighters arrived to find a black Chevrolet pickup truck that had crashed into the east side of the pond behind apartments on Fredrick Court.
The pickup truck was about three feet deep in the water, Gurnee Battalion Fire Chief Tim Steffens said.
A man was the driver and sole occupant of the pickup truck.
He was out of the vehicle before the arrival of emergency responders, Steffens said.
The pond was icy at the time due to extreme cold, with temperatures around 15 degrees Fahrenheit and wind chills around 0 degrees Fahrenheit.
The man was evaluated by paramedics at the scene but was uninjured and refused to be transported to the hospital, Steffens added.
It is unknown how or why the pickup truck ended up in the pond, but tire marks appeared to indicate the truck drove off Lawson Boulevard and onto the grass in a northbound direction before crashing into the pond.
A tow truck from McClure’s Garage & Towing – based in Gurnee – responded to the scene and removed the truck from the pond.
Firefighters remained on the scene in case they needed to assist the tow truck operators with removing the truck.