{"id":14706,"date":"2016-12-19T15:07:25","date_gmt":"2016-12-19T15:07:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=14706"},"modified":"2016-12-19T15:07:25","modified_gmt":"2016-12-19T15:07:25","slug":"muscogee-co-sheriffs-deputy-describes-this-weeks-harrowing-creek-rescue","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/georgiaarsoncontrol.org\/?p=14706","title":{"rendered":"Muscogee Co. Sheriff\u2019s Deputy describes this week\u2019s harrowing creek rescue"},"content":{"rendered":"

(WRBL<\/a>) \u2013\u00a0COLUMBUS, Ga. \u2014<\/strong> Imagine your car crashing into a creek and you are submerged in water upside down. That\u2019s what happened to one man just days ago.<\/p>\n

Thankfully, local good Samaritans made sure he wasn\u2019t there for long.<\/p>\n

News 3 has new details about the harrowing moments from a\u00a0Muscogee County Sheriff\u2019s Deputy, one of the few who made the daring dive.<\/p>\n

Columbus police say 67-year-old Ralph Valdespino was found around 6 p.m., Tuesday night.<\/p>\n

His SUV was upside down in a creek near the Whitesville Road and Maplewood Drive intersection in Columbus.<\/p>\n

Corporal David Lang with Muscogee County Sheriffs Office just so happened to be in the area.<\/p>\n

He says he and several other people on the scene rushed to the vehicle.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere was a male standing next to it. I asked him if everyone was out and if everyone was okay. He told me no, that there was a person inside the car but they weren\u2019t moving,\u201d says Deputy Lang.<\/p>\n

Next, he says he managed to get a hammer from a woman who was nearby.<\/p>\n

He says he used it to break a window and get the man out of the SUV.<\/p>\n

He says the victim had been trapped inside for about two minutes.<\/p>\n

News 3 spoke to Corporal Lang about what was going through his mind when he saw the vehicle submerged, upside down.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy oath says that I have a duty to react\u2026and that\u2019s what I did,\u201d says Deputy Lang.<\/p>\n

Watch the report HERE\u203a\u203a<\/a><\/p>\n<\/body>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"